Tag: Lisa Jordan

Lakeside Redemption

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
Do you believe this? I do. What a beautiful quote from my friend Lisa Jordan’s newest release, Lakeside Redemption. 
“Can a woman
forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the
son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,Yet I will not forget you.

 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of
My hands;…” Isaiah 49:15-16 NKJV
God’s love for us is intense. So intense that He’s carved our names into His palms. He can’t uncarve them. He doesn’t forget us, even when we feel like He has.
“So,
what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God
didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition
and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything
else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with
God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger?
The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of
God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be
able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not
trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying
threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They
kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of
this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that
nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or
low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get
between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced
us.” Romans 8:36-39 MSG
Nothing can keep us from God’s love. What I love so much about fiction is while the characters and even the setting might be pretend, the message is truth. It’s hope. It’s grace. And it can help us see God in a way we didn’t before! So I encourage you to pick up Lisa’s book either online or any in bookstore (they’ll only be in paperback on shelves this month then you’ll have to order it as an ebook or a paperback online). 
Here’s a peek! 
Buy the book! 
Zoe James is starting over. She’s worked hard to get past
the foolish mistakes that landed her in trouble four years ago. Now the young
mom is back in Shelby Lake and ready to reconnect with her son. When she bumps
into old friend Caleb Sullivan and his two adorable girls, she sees the
possibility of a happy future. Caleb has always secretly loved Zoe, but her
turbulent past brings up tough memories of his own. As they spend time together
training his girls’ new puppy, Zoe and Caleb will learn that if they can
forgive themselves, they might have a chance at a new life— and new
love—together.
Visit @lisajordan on twitter,
facebook, and her website! 

If you were sitting in one of those chairs on the cover of the book, who would you be sitting next to and what would you be chatting about? 




Coffee with Lisa Jordan and a Giveaway!

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Good Monday
everyone! Today, I’m hanging out with the ridiculously talented author, Lisa
Jordan! Married 23 years to her real life hero, Lisa  knows a thing or two about romance. She
and her husband have two college-aged sons and will be facing an empty nest
soon. By day, Lisa is an early childhood educator, and by night, she is a
contemporary romance novelist with Love Inspired. Lakeside Reunion, her debut
novel, is a 2012 Carol Award Finalist. Lakeside Family, her second novel,
releases in August 2012. She is represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books &
Such Agency. In her free time (ha!), Lisa enjoys good books, chick flicks,
crafting with friends and feeding her NCIS addiction. To learn more about Lisa,
visit her website at www.lisajordanbooks.com.

Now, guess where we
are?
Cuppa
Josie’s!
Can’t you smell the
cinnamon tangoing with the sugar while banana nut bread turns golden in the
oven! Spiced teas and rich dark roasted coffee tease us to give in to the
caffeine rush, while the herbal teas challenge us to be healthier!
This is Cuppa
Josie’s and it can only be found in Shelby Lake, the setting of Lisa’s second
novel in the Lakeside series, Lakeside Family.
JP:
Lisa, tell us a little bit about Cuppa Josie’s so readers will know where they
are today! And what’s on the menu?!
LJ: Cuppa Josie’s is
a coffee café that invites guests to sit on the comfy couch to sip their
coffee, eat their lunch at the window bar and watch people pass by, or pull up
one of the chairs at the round tables to chat with friends or do work.
Josie opened a
coffee café because coffee and food bring people together. Inspired by her
Italian grandmother, Josie bakes all of the desserts in her bakery case from
scratch.
photo credit: freedigitalphotos
JP:
As I read the scenes with Josie in the kitchen, my mouth watered. Chocolate
chip muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, apple crisp and delicious flavored
coffees! How many sweet delicacies did you eat while writing this?
LJ: Hehe, funny
thing is I didn’t eat any of them! When I’m in the mood, I love to bake—usually
in the winter when the temps dip, but I haven’t had a lot of baking time. I’ve
found inspiration in my cookbooks, online recipe sites and the tasty treats offered
at our local coffee shop that sort of inspired Cuppa Josie’s.
JP:
Josie had an allergy to caffeine. Which broke my heart, poor thing. But what a
neat trait to give her. I’ve never read of anyone having this particular
allergy. I’m on my second cup of Butter toffee and chocolate coffee, by the
way. What are you sipping on?
LJ: Josie loves
people more than she loves coffee, but she knows how many people enjoy a fresh
cup.
I love the smell of
coffee, but hate the taste. Drinking coffee makes me sick…literally, but I
loved hanging out with my friends at our favorite coffee spot. In fact, several
colleagues and I kept meeting at our local coffee shop, and that started our friendship.
We now call ourselves the Coffee Girls.
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos
I love tea. Chai tea
is a favorite, as well as Good Hope Vanilla. I drink a lot of green tea, both
hot and cold. In the summertime, I drink a cup of hot tea in the morning, then
switch to iced green tea. In the winter, I will drink caffeine-free tea throughout
the day. I have enough tea to drink 2 or 3 cups a day and not run out for over
a year.
JP:
I love the Chai tea latte, but I can’t seem to enjoy Green tea. I love Shelby
Lake it’s truly a special place, too bad it’s fictitious because I’d definitely
put it on my vacation list. Or live list. You made it fun, friendly, full of
community. Did you base it off any particular place? If so, how much of Shelby
Lake is fictional?
LJ: Shelby Lake is
fictional. It’s set in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania, which is where I
live. Our area is simply breathtaking with mountains, rivers, multicolored
leaves in the fall. I live in a national forest with one of the great lakes
within a 90 minute drive. When I created Shelby Lake, I wanted a lakefront
community similar to what I’m familiar with. And the experts tell us to write
what we know. Friends and family will mention certain parts of my book and
compare it to an area in our town. I’ll simply smile and say something like,
“Imagine that.”
photo credit: freedigitalphotos
JP:
I need to come visit you then! Lisa, my favorite recipe is the zeppole. Tell
readers what that is and how they can get the recipe for this wonderful pastry!
LJ: Zeppole is an
Italian doughnut-like pastry. It reminds me a little of a cream puff. They can
be baked or deep fried like doughnuts. In Lakeside Family, Josie bakes hers and
it’s a treat saved only for family and special friends. She doesn’t offer it to
her customers at Cuppa Josie’s. Readers can Google the recipe and find
variations. I will be including the recipe in my September newsletter, so if
you want Josie’s secret recipe, you need to subscribe to my newsletter on my
site. Go to www.lisajordanbooks.com
and click on the envelope icon on the right side of the navigation bar or
scroll to the bottom of the home page and fill in your email address in the
“Stay in Touch” box.
JP:
If I’m not signed up, I will be! Since Lisa is so awesome, she said she’d share
another recipe here today!
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos
LJ: I’m sharing
Josie’s Glazed Lemon Poppyseed Strawberry Crumb Muffins
1½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking
powder
1 teaspoon ground
cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup plain nonfat
yogurt
1 stick melted
butter
1 egg
1 cup chopped fresh
strawberries
1 teaspoon lemon
zest
Crumb topping:
¼ cup chopped
almonds
¼ cup packed brown
sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon lemon
zest
1 Tablespoon melted
butter
Mix together with
fork.
Glaze:
Combine 2/3 cup
powdered sugar with 1 ¼ Tablespoon fresh lemon juice in a small bowl until
smooth
Preheat oven to 350˚
F. Grease or line with papers 12 muffin cups. Mix crumb topping and set aside.
Mix glaze and set aside.
In a large bowl,
combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a small bowl, mix
milk, butter and egg until well blended. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture
until just moistened. Don’t worry about lumps. Avoid overmixing. Fold in
strawberries and lemon zest. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle
crumb mixture evenly over tops of muffins. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes or
until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and
cool on a wire rack. Drizzle the glaze over warm muffin tops. Serve with
favorite beverage.
JP:
Yum! I should bake these for book club! One last thing before you go. One of
the most fun things about Cuppa Josie’s is her word wall. Lisa, after you snag
another muffin, tell readers what that is and then leave us with our very own
virtual word wall today!
LJ: Each month Josie
puts up miscellaneous words on a community word wall and challenges her
customers to write something unique. At the end of the month, they’re voted on
and the winner receives a free drink.
photocredit: freedigitalphotos
Your
word wall challenge—use these words in a paragraph… trust, lake, kite, muffin,
umbrella, elephant, Thursday.
JP:
Since Lisa is so awesome, she’s giving away a copy of her novel, Lakeside Family! All you have to do is leave
your email address if you want to be entered to win! Sharing on facebook and
tweeting gets you added entries. (but tag me so I count them as added entries)
And that’s not all! (Wow, for a second I
thought I was about to give away the shamwow! Can you say infomercial voice!?)
If you take the word wall challenge, Lisa will choose the
person with the best paragraph and they’ll get a
$10.00 Starbucks card! (US residents only for both contests.)
Lisa is celebrating
the release of Lakeside Family with a month-long party of
giveaways, including Coffee Lovers and Tea Lovers baskets. For more details and
to enter the gift basket giveaways, leave a comment here.  
The
book released at the beginning of the month, so readers can find it in their
favorite bookstore or online retailer.
Thanks
again, Lisa, for letting me and everyone else hang out with you at Cuppa
Josie’s! It’s been worth the calories! You can hang out with Lisa in other places too, like FACEBOOK and TWITTER and her BLOG! 
Here’s a peek at
Lakeside Family:
The one man she never wanted to see again is the
only who can save her daughter’s life.
In the
space of a minute, Nick Brennan learns he has a nine-year-old daughter— and
that she desperately needs his help. All this time, his high school sweetheart,
single mother Josie Peretti, thought he knew about their child. And that he
just didn’t care. About the ill little girl—or Josie, the woman he’s never
forgotten. But Nick made a long-ago promise never to forsake his family the way
his father did. A promise he vows to make good on now… if only Josie will bless
him with a second chance.
*The winner for the God of All Comfort goodie basket, including Donna Pyle’s study and a Kindle touch is…. Loree Huebner!

It’s not too late for those of you who didn’t win! Hop over to Gabrielle Meyer’s blog; Donna’s over there sharing about her study and giving away:

  • A signed copy of The God of All Comfort
  • $50 Amazon card
  • $15 iTunes card
  • Coffee mug w/ the study’s logo
  • And a DVD set of Your Strong Suit (fab study by Donna)

Good-Bye Summer

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

In my neck of the woods, summer is gone. Oh the heat still toys with us, trying to play mind-games on our already fried brains. Fried from heat. Fried from to-do lists, schedules, etc…

This is my last week with my kids before the new school year begins. I’m always nervous for them. Nervous they’ll get picked on, nervous they’ll have rotten teachers with no compassion, nervous they’ll be nervous. Generally, I’m not a worrier.  But this time of year, I am. 

I know God has it all under control. I know He’s promised to take care of them. I trust Him to do it, but those pre-school jitters still get me looking like a drunk marionette. Right now, you’re picturing me as a trashed Pinocchio-ette. Admit it.

This summer has flown by. I mean really. I can’t figure out where summer went. So this week I’m taking a blogging break and I’ll probably be online less, although my iPhone makes it hard. School supplies are bought. Clothes and shoes are purchased and my house is mostly clean. So I’m taking this last week to hang out with my kids and yeah, do some writing when they get sick of me. Depending on how much sarcasm I drop will determine how long it takes before they beg me to go away! 

BUT!!!!


I’ll be back, you can all sigh in relief now, on Monday, August 6th and we’ll all get to hang out at Cuppa Josie’s in Shelby Lake with Lisa Jordan. Expect a recipe, a super cool ending to the day, and lots of coffee, tea, and pastries! Holla!

Would you rather take math classes the rest of your life with a teacher you like, or creative writing with a teacher you detest? Why?
*photocredit: freedigitalphotos

A Whole Day Cleaning Out the…

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Yeah, the pantry. School is starting in two weeks! Two. Two weeks and my house is simply not ready for grumpy heads rising before 6:30 a.m., heading to school to beat the tardy bell at 7:20.

It’s not ready for starving mouths that need after-school snacks and all that goes along with five days of kid-torture.

My pantry was ridiculous.

So maybe I didn’t spend a whole day on it, but I swear I did spend an hour and it’s possible more than one bag of trash went out, I will not admit to any more than one. 

I reorganized my spice rack, moved a few things to different cabinets, shopped for school supplies and got them ready to go in boxes, and basically cleaned house. No, not basically, I did clean house.

I was quiet online yesterday and I got zipola writing done. I will say while dinner was in the oven, I took a break with a cup of tea and Lisa Jordan’s newest book, Lakeside Family. A fifteen minute break. Yeah, it turned into an hour and I admit to laughing out loud and even sobbing tearing up. You can pre-order it! Click on Lisa’s name.

Now that my laundry is done, school supplies purchased, and I can open my pantry without stale chips and moldy bread falling out (I might or might not be exaggerating) I can get back to writing. Oh and I got inspired by Amanda Dykes uber-cool organized desk, so I cleaned mine off and did a little organizing myself! You can read about it at Melissa Tagg’s Tag(g)lines, where she guest posted, HERE!

Do you do a full scrub on your house before school starts up? And even better, if you could be one item in a pantry, what would you be and why?

Lisa Jordan, Lakeside Reunion, and a Happily Ever After

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
Sweet like cotton candy, warm and delightful like maple syrup, funny like little girls giggling over boys. Those are things that come to my mind when I think of Lisa Jordan.
Lisa’s blog is one of the first one’s I found when I came into the blogosphere and Happily Ever After is a great title and fits her perfectly. 

Heart, home and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories that feature both comes naturally to her. She has been writing contemporary Christian romance for more than a decade. Her debut novel, Lakeside Reunion, released in November by Love Inspired. Her second novel, Lakeside Family, will be released in August 2012 by Love Inspired. Happily married for twenty-two years, Lisa and her husband have two young adult sons. When she isn’t writing or caring for children in her in-home childcare business, Lisa enjoys family time, romantic comedies, good books, crafting with friends and feeding her NCIS addiction. Visit her at www.lisajordanbooks.com to learn more about her writing.

JP: Because Lisa was so intriguing to me, and fun and helpful and we have a few things in common, like NCIS and working in the childcare industry, I had to buy this book. When did you get the writer’s bug? May I say, I’m so very glad you did!
LJ: After reading Danielle Steel’s The Promise when I was 16—I wanted to give readers the same heart-sighing happily ever after.
JP: Mission Accomplished, my friend. Mission Accomplished. Tell us one favorite line from Lakeside Reunion and tell us why?
“He shoved his hands in his front pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I should probably apologize, but that would be a lie. I’ve wanted to do that since I pulled you over in that ugly blue car with the broken taillight.”
LJ: I don’t want to spoil why Stephen says that, but to me, this snippet shows Stephen as an alpha male who knows what he wants. He respects Lindsey and does his best to honor her wishes, but sometimes he just wanted to sweep her off her feet and leave her breathless. And he’s not going to apologize for doing it.
JP:I know why! I know why! And I happened to have loved this snippet of dialogue. There were so many others I loved as well. So tell me, do you listen to music while you write? I always ask this because I must have music when writing and I think everyone else should too, ha!
LJ: Yes, I listen to music while writing. I subscribe to Pandora so I listen to different stations while writing certain scenes. The mood of the music helps pull me deeper into the scene.
JP: I knew I loved you for so many reasons! Yes! I’ma Pandora fan. Ya’ll need the Levi Kreis station. Awe-Some! Tell everyone why you write romance?
LJ: I’m a happily ever after girl who believes in true love.
JP: That pretty much nails it! And I’m a fan of happy ever afters and true love too. But with love comes pain. Was there a scene you found difficult to write in Lakeside reunion? Why?
LJ: Several scenes were challenging to write because they forced me to tap into the inner core of my emotions. When my characters cried, I cried. I had to force myself to go to that place and feel the same sense of heartbreak. Pain hurts for a reason, which is why so many of us keep it buried. But it can be freeing too.
JP: So true, Lisa. I know you became your characters because it showed in your wonderful writing. I’ll tell you a little secret…I cried when they cried too. I laughed a lot as well. Okay, the violins have stopped, so moving on. Christmas is coming! What do you think your main characters will be doing  for Christmas? What about you? Do you have a holiday tradition?
LJ: By Christmas, Stephen and Lindsey will be newlyweds and celebrating with their families.
I’m all about family, so my Christmas will be spent surrounded by those I love. We have several little quirky traditions such as I always buy them socks and underwear and wrap them up. On Christmas Eve, our boys are allowed to open one gift. When our youngest son was very little (4 or 5), he opened his one gift on Christmas Eve to find underwear, and he exclaimed, “Unnerwear? No fair!” So every year, when they open socks and “unnerwear,” we all say, “Unnerwear? No fair.” Silly, yes, but it always makes us smile.
JP: LOL! I love that. “unnerwear, not fair” Christmas at your house sounds like lots of good fun and many laughs! A picture perfect holiday. Speaking of pictures, do you hunt down any of your characters from the internet? Care to share what your hero and heroine look like with us? Or would you rather leave it to the readers’ imaginations?
LJ: I always use pictures of actors, actresses, or models so I have a visual of my characters as I write. When I use an actor or model, I’m going by their physical aspects only—not their personality type or what I read online about them…yes, I’m shallow and read People.com.
JP: I think some of the best story ideas come from People.com What? It’s research and Lisa will vouch for it, won’t you LJ? See! Neener neener neener! Okay, who is Lindsey and Stephen. Show us! Must know!
Lindsey Porter
For Lindsey, I pictured her as Charleze Theron. For Stephen, I used Australian model Ian Lawless as his visual character.
Stephen Chase 
 JP: Um, yes, indeed! I can see that. Completely. You wrote them well. Okay,I’m so playing out a particular scene from your book in my head with these guys. I may have to go back and read it again, even though I did see them a lot like this.  

 What would your characters say about you if they had the chance?
LJ: My characters would say I have grasshopper syndrome—my thoughts bounce all over the place. I can be thinking about a scene, but something in that scene could trigger something I need to put on my grocery list. While I’m thinking about my grocery list, I’ll go downstairs to the freezer in the basement to check the status of something, but when I get there I may be distracted by laundry or see something in my craft nook. If you’ve read Laura Numeroff’s books—If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, etc—then welcome to my brain.
 When I do need to be focused, I do stay on task.
JP:  That’s hilarious. I usually just wander into a room and instead of getting distracted, I can’t remember why I’m in there. But in all seriousness (I was serious about doing that btw),what would you like readers to take away most from your debut novel?
LJ: God loves us unconditionally and offers second, third, fourth chances if we draw near to Him with a heart begging forgiveness and accept His free gift of grace.
JP: Amen! And they will. A beautiful story of grace and forgiveness! What can readers expect from you in the future? Are you continuing the series? Please say “yes”!
LJ: Lakeside Family, my second novel, which features Josie, Lindsey’s step-sister, will be released in August 2012. I’m writing my third book in the series, which I’ve titled Lakeside Promises. I love Shelby Lake and have a whole series planned for the different characters. 
JP: Woohoo! I can’t wait, and readers, please buy this book. If you love happy endings and lots of swooning romance, you’ll adore this book. Here’s a peek:

Lakeside Reunion: Bed-and-breakfast owner Lindsey Porter prays she won’t run into Stephen Chase when she returns to Shelby Lake. Five years ago, the cop jilted her to marry another woman, and Lindsey fled town. But no sooner does she hit city limits than Stephen pulls her over for a broken taillight. Despite the past, he’s still able to stir up Lindsey’s old feelings for him. Now a widower and single dad, Stephen recognizes a second chance when he sees one. And he’ll do anything to make Lindsey trust in God and take a risk for love—again. Read an excerpt of Lakeside Reunion
JP: Told you it was one to grab! Lisa is doing a something really cool with the launch of her book. Tell them about your creative idea, Lisa!

LJ:  I’m holding a scavenger hunt to promote my Lakeside Reunion release. Plus, blog commenters on my blog hop will be put in a drawing for fun prizes—breakfast basket, Love Inspired Authors basket, autographed copies of Lakeside Reunion. Visit my LakesideReunion Contest page for more information.
                  The token for this blog is a kiss.
JP: Thanks for coming by today, Lisa. Before you go would you like to ask everyone a question? They are the besto at commenting and making you feel welcome, aren’t you, everyone? See!
 In Lakeside Reunion, Lindsey needs to let go of a fear to have her second chance at love. What have you done or what do you need to do to release a fear in order to follow your heart (not necessarily romantically…could be a heart’s desire)?
You can connect with Lisa and find out more about her scavenger hunt and Lakeside reunion through:
Lisa’s website, email, facebook, twitter, and My Book Therapy!