Greatest Story Ever Told #OpenBook Blog Hop

This week on the blog we're talking about the greatest story ever told.

It has it all. Love and hate. Loyalty and betrayal. Friends and enemies and friends who become enemies. Birth and death. It keeps you on your toes throughout the entire story. What book am I talking about?  The Bible, specifically, The New Testament.

Leaving religion out of it (my apologies to those of you who are firm believers) the story of Jesus of Nazareth is a compelling tale. We have a hero who is born of humble beginnings and uncertain parentage who rose to become the leader of a movement that swept across the nation of Israel and later the world. With  nothing more than the carpentry skills learned from his father and an abundance of faith, he became a self-styled fisher of men.

His ability to do magic—turn water into wine, cure the sick and bring the dead back to life—was a major factor in his influence. But the wider his circle of friends and followers became, the more he opened himself to people who were threatened by his anti-establishment philosophies and wanted to destroy him.

We cheered along with the crowd when he turned a few baskets of food into enough to feed the assembly. We cried along with his mother when one of his friends turns his back on him and turns him over to the authorities. We wept with him when he was tortured and paraded through the streets.

When he was nailed to a cross and left hanging there, we almost tossed the book across the room in disgust. Only the hints that had been dropped about eternal life gave us any hope for a happy ending and kept us reading.

The ending (spoiler alert) —the resurrection and then the disappearance of the hero into the clouds—left the reader searching for answers.  The various points of view of the four narrators were at times confusing.  And although the story contains elements from tales of the time, overall, it cannot be matched.        

To find out what the other authors have to say, follow the links below. And feel free to leave a comment!                                      



February 27, 2017 - What is the greatest story ever told?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
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3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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Krissie Fortune and Desire, Deceit and the Doctor

How Adam Montgomery, hero of Desire, Deceit and the Doctor, became an army doctor.
Adam’s first decision was whether to attend an Army medical school. His great aunt, the multi-millionairess who doted on him, offered to pay his tuition fees as long as he didn’t follow the military route. Since her offer came with a generous allowance, he accepted. Of course, he had no idea how badly his great aunt treated his former girlfriend, the one he dumped when he thought she cheated on him.
After graduation, what next?
Adam enlisted. He needed to prove his was fit as well as meet the height and weight requirements. A natural athlete, and former captain of his high school football team, that wasn’t a problem for him. As a doctor, he didn’t have to complete basic training. Instead, he attended a six-week Officer Basic Leadership Course, which teaches about military life and the role of a leader.
What specialty did he follow?
Adam became an emergency physician, dealing with broken bones, bullet wounds, and other injuries. When stationed in the middle East, he got caught up in action and took out a sniper along with his two accomplices. His courage earned him a medal, but now he’s coming home to Westhorpe Ridge and buying into the local medical practice.
Boy, is he in for a shock.
Almost twelve years ago, he broke up with Mandy Devlin at their senior prom. Scared he’d forgive her and make up, he left town the next morning. Neither of them realized she was pregnant. Now the son he never knew existed is almost eleven years old. He didn’t expect Mandy and her son to move back to Westhorpe Ridge, but the last thing he wants is to rekindle old passions.

Tagline
After Adam Montgomery walked away and left her pregnant, dare Mandy trust him with her heart again?

Blurb
Twelve years ago, Mandy Devlin moved away from her friends and family--under threat. If she returned in the next ten years or told anyone who fathered her baby, her boyfriend’s great-aunt would bankrupt her family. She’s a single mom who dreams of her lost love and a good spanking. When she’s finally free to return to Westhorpe Ridge, the last person she expects to see is Adam—the man she loved and lost so long ago.

Dr. Adam Montgomery doesn’t know he has a son. Thanks to his great-aunt’s will, he has nine months to find a bride or he loses Montgomery Hall and the fifteen million dollars she left him. Although he seduces Mandy on his first night home, he still believes she betrayed him twelve years ago. No way would he marry a woman like her.

As Valentine’s Day looms, someone tries to kill Mandy. Is Adam trying to get rid of her? Or can Mandy trust him to protect them?

Buy links
Loose id http://bit.ly/2kTGqp5
Kobo http://bit.ly/2kH27b8
Amazon UK http://amzn.to/2lPNv9N
Amazon USA http://amzn.to/2kJbtmK

Kryssie Fortune Social Media
Website http://kryssiefortune.wixsite.com/kryssie
Blog http://kryssiefortune.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter https://twitter.com/KryssieFortune
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KryssiesFortune
Pinterest http://bit.ly/1OGFnjc
Goodreads http://bit.ly/2kxqabJ
Amazon Author Page http://amzn.to/2hA0ZVO

About Kryssie Fortune
Kryssie Fortune writes the sort of hot sexy books she loves to read. If she can sneak a dragon into her paranormal books she will. Her paranormal heroes are muscular werewolves, arrogant Fae or BDSM loving dragons.
Kryssie likes her contemporary heroes ex-military and dominant. Her heroines are kick ass females who can hold their own against whatever life - or Kryssie - throws at them.

Kryssie's pet hates are unhappy endings, and a series that ends on a cliff hanger.
Her books are all stand alone, even when they’re part of a series. Plot always comes before sex, but when her heroines and heroes get together, the sex is explosive and explicit.

Relaxation #OpenBook Blog Hop

What's my go-to relaxation? Come on, anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis already knows the answer. You guessed it. Hanging out in the mountains somewhere while listening to music. John Denver being the musician of choice most often, but classic rock runs a close second.


I considered talking about something totally different to throw everyone off, but why bother.

So put on your headset, listen to some tunes, and take a look at a new batch of pictures from the last couple of weekends.

One more to remind us that spring isn't too far away. 

I hope you're feeling a little more relaxed. I know I am.

How do you relax? You can tell me in the comments. And to find out what the others on the hop do to relax, follow the links. 

Feb. 20 - What's Your Go-To Relaxation?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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Once & Forever M.S. Kaye

First, I want to apologize to M.S. Kaye. I was supposed to post this for her before Christmas, and I got lost in the holiday haolidays. So I'm happy to share it with you now. 

Once & Forever

Once book 3, by M.S. Kaye

Who is the mysterious Santa who leaves toys on the convent steps?

After a twelve-year separation, Eden is finally reunited with her brother, Thomas, but why hadn’t she reached out to him in all those years? Eden, a nun, is constantly struggling against her dark past of living on the streets, and her attraction to Trace, an ex-convict farm worker. As Eden and Trace confess their pasts to each other and grow closer, will they be able to resist getting too close?

Amazon  |  Kobo  |  iBooks  |  Goodreads

Author Bio:

M.S. Kaye has several published books under her black belt. A transplant from Ohio, she resides with her husband Corey in Jacksonville, Florida, where she tries not to melt in the sun. Find suspense and the unusual at www.BooksByMSK.com.

To receive news on upcoming releases, sign up for email updates on her website.

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Google+  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  TSU  |  Pinterest  |  LinkedIn

Once, book 1

Her first and also her once.

Jonathan and Rebecca’s paths cross at exactly the right moment, when each most needs to hear what the other has to say.

But Jonathan is three days from entering the priesthood, and Rebecca leaves him to his peace. But he is unable to find peace.

Without each other’s comfort and strength, they must each struggle to forge a new path, with only memories of the one day that changed everything.

But are they able to forget and let go?

Amazon  |  Kobo  |  iBooks  |  B&N  |  ARe  |  Goodreads

Once & Again, book 2

She was once his secret desire… Will she be again?

Father Aiden, an ex-marine and new priest, falls in love with Maylynn, but he struggles to stay away from her. He’s successful for many years, though he can’t keep her out of his dreams.

Then one day she shows up for a pre-marital counselling session with her fiancé, Davis. Aiden soon realizes Davis isn’t who he says he is, but what does that mean for Maylynn, and for himself?

Amazon  |  B&N  |  iBooks  |  Kobo  |  ARe  |  Goodreads

Excerpt book 3:

“You know what he did to git sent to prison?” one of the convenience store clerks murmured to the other.

Trace could just hear them over the horrible rendition of “Jingle Bells” playin’ through the speakers. He ignored them, like he always did. He tried to come into town late in the evening to avoid people as much as possible, but that also meant it was quiet enough that he could often hear what people murmured about him. Once he’d grabbed some protein bars and a can of beer, he headed up to the counter to pay.

The clerk with a buzz-cut told him the total, and Trace handed him some cash.

Neither of the clerks made eye contact with him, but they both hovered over the cash register as if he might snatch it and run.

Buzz-cut closed the cash drawer right quick and handed Trace’s change back.

“Thank you.” Trace stuffed the change in his pocket, took the bag of protein bars in one hand and his beer in the other, and walked out of the store.

He headed for the back lot toward the alley. He could get through most of downtown by way of the alley. This late at night it was almost too dark to see where he was goin’, but that was part of what he liked about it.

“Bitch,” someone growled. And then the sound of something—or someone—smacking into the brick wall of the back of the convenience store.

Trace moved more quickly and turned the corner, and he caught sight of a skinny, young woman punching a man in the face. His head snapped back. But then another man slammed his fist across her jaw. She looked so frail that the punch seemed like shooting a cannon ball at a piece of notebook paper.

“Hey!” Trace roared and ran at them. “Git away from her.”

Love-What is it? #OpenBook Blog Hop

This week, just in time for Valentine's Day, we're talking about love—what is it?

According to dictionary.com, it's  a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. or
a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. or
sexual passion or desire. But what does that really mean?

Poets and philosophers throughout the ages have tried to find the words that best explain the emotion. I'm included. Remember, before I turned to fiction, I wrote poetry. So, in honor of the holiday, here's a poem I wrote ages ago.

        Serenade for an Insomniac

       The faucet in the bathtub in dripping
       Again.
       The heater clicks as it turns off.
       And on,
       And off.
       The clock is ticking time away,
       The waterbed sloshes as I toss uneasily,
       Then you turn to me
       And between snores, murmur sleepily,
       "I love you."
       Suddenly, it's a midnight rhapsody.

 While Valentine's Day celebrates romantic love, there are many other kinds of love. The love of a parent for a child. The love between siblings. The love of nature. The love of self. The love of humanity.  For some, the love of God.

I occasionally tease my husband that he's my second love and my first love is the mountains. I think this poem expresses it well.

      Beartooth Mountain Pass


      I stand at the edge of eternity
   
      Where the mountains and sky mingle
      In a curious cacophony of watercolours
      Where granite boulders
      With a furious freedom, defy gravity,
      Hang in precarious unbalance
      And do not fall
      Where winter snows linger
      Alongside short lived summer flowers

      Where the world falls away from my feet
      I teach myself to breath again
      12000 feet high





You can tell me what love means to you in the comments. To find out what out other authors think love is, follow the links below.




February 13, 2017 - Love - what does it mean to you. How do you show your loved ones love?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
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3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
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My Favorite Song #OpenBook Blog Hop

This week's topic on the blog hop is to talk about our favorite song. Sounds like an easy one, doesn't it? But how do I choose only one song when there are so many wonderful songs out there?

But if you've hung out here with me for any length of time, you know I don't always follow the rules. And I fully intend to break them again this week.

I'll start with the one song that is obvious to anyone who knows me. John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High." He wrote the song to express his love of the Rocky Mountains, especially those near Aspen, Colorado. It become the unofficial state song of Colorado during the 1970's and an official state anthem in 2007. But did you know it was banned on some radio stations in the 1970's because people assumed that the word "high" in the title and in the song was a reference to drugs!




Now you're asking "P.J., why is this your favorite song?" Well, I'll tell you. I "blame" this song for getting my husband and I together. I'd dropped out of college and was working while deciding on a new major when I was introduced to this song and John Denver by a friend. (Thank you, Debbie!) I ended up picking a new course of study and choosing a college in Wyoming, partially influenced by Denver's music. I ended up meeting my husband while at that college. Do the math and you'll figure out how long we've been together! (Short answer—not long enough!)

Now, on to a few of my other favorite songs.

With the state of politics in the US, it reminds me of an earlier time of our history. So here's one of the first protest songs I remember. There are many versions out there, but I love Joan's voice.




Speaking of protest songs—have you ever heard this one?



Now for something a little more up-to-date. Way back, I was introduced to the music of Buffy St. Marie. She released a new album a few years ago and she still packs a punch when she sings.



So what is your favorite song? Tell us about it in the comments. And to find out what our other authors have to say, follow the links below.

February 6, 2017 - your favorite song with background information
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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