A Warm Welcome For All

Happy Valley by Lin Stepp is a delightful contemporary Christian novel. It is part of the Mountain Home series but can be read as a stand-alone.

I always adore Lin Stepp’s novels as they wrap around me like a cosy blanket on a cold day. The characters are kind and caring, wholesome with huge hearts that are community minded.

The reader sees how important it is not to judge by appearances. The Lord looks at the heart. We, too, should be more concerned with the state of our heart than the condition of our clothes.

Within the novel there is a character running from their past. Secrets are kept and hearts locked up in order to stay safe. As a chink of light shines into a heart, a character has to decide whether to open up and be vulnerable or to continue to carry the burden of the past and risk future happiness.

The characters go on hikes within the novel. This can be seen as a motif for our lives – sometimes the road we travel is smooth, sometimes are journey takes us up on the hilltops or down in the valleys, or sometimes we cannot see the path ahead. We need to trust God to guide us through all the stages of life’s journey.

We will always need God. He is as close to us as we want Him to be. “He’s often felt the need for faith and reached out for it.” As we reach for Him, God bends closer to us.

The love of money is the root of all evil. There is nothing wrong with having money if we are wise stewards and live with open hands and a generous heart. We must not let our money take control and be the boss of us, for then we will be on a downwards trajectory.

There is a wonderful community atmosphere that covers the whole novel. The reader receives a warm welcome. Lin Stepp writes in such a way that we feel like we have ‘lived’ the novel rather than read it.

I adored Happy Valley and am sad to leave my new friends behind.

I want to leave you with my favourite quote:

You only need a touch from Jesus to have a good time.”

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Happy Valley & Return to Edisto by Lin Stepp, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOKS

Title: Happy Valley
Author: Lin Stepp
Publisher: Mountain Hill Press
Release Date: April 2, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Escape to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in this sweet tale of two young people who meet by chance, their paths soon overlapping and intertwining amid a cast of warm-hearted characters in the small rural community of Happy Valley.

With Grandpa suffering a heart attack, Juliette Hollander saw little choice but to head back to their Tennessee mountain farm in Happy Valley to help out.  She didn’t expect, or want, to leave behind her life and work in North Carolina to return to her grandparents’ home so soon. Nor did she imagine meeting, and working with, the mysterious man she met briefly last summer and never thought to see again.

Walker Logan spent the last two years traveling the United States, seeing the beauty of the country and running from his past. But an old rock house he sees while hiking near Abrams Creek Campground unexpectedly calls to his soul. With danger close behind, he never stayed in one place long enough to put down roots. Yet now, with a new vision, he decides to take the risk.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Title: Return to Edisto
Series: The Edisto Trilogy #2
Author: Lin Stepp
Publisher: Mountain Hill Press
Release Date: April 2, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Return to Edisto Island in the rich, Lowcountry story of a young woman’s difficult decision to run from threat and danger, changing the course of her well-ordered life and, in turn, the life of the young man who loved and lost her.

It was a long trip back to Edisto Island, South Carolina, and the beach house that shaped so much of Mary Helen Avery’s early life. Now her mind flashed between anger and hurt over the difficult situation she’d left behind at the job she loved.  Was she doing the right thing to leave? Should she have stayed to fight? She hoped at the quiet, beloved island she knew so well, she’d find the answers she needed and peace from all this turmoil.

J.T.’s heart took a familiar lurch when he saw the car with New Jersey plates parked at the Avery’s beach house. Even after ten years, the memory of Mary Helen Avery still tormented him.  Finding her on the porch weeping lit old fires he thought long dead. Was he a fool to hope for something more between them with all their problems of the past? Probably so, but if she stayed long enough, he’d find one more chance to try.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lin Stepp is a native Tennessean, businesswoman and educator. A New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon best-selling international author, Lin has eighteen published books, including her twelve beloved Smoky Mountain novels, all set in different Tennessee and North Carolina locations, her newest Mountain Home book, a novella in one of Kensington’s Christmas anthologies, and two novels in her new Edisto Trilogy, set on the South Carolina coast. Lin and her husband J.L. also write regional guidebooks, including a Smoky Mountain hiking guide and a Tennessee state parks book.

Stepp’s latest 2020 releases are Happy Valley, set in a quiet rural valley near the Smoky Mountains, and Return to Edisto, set at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. Lin’s previous title Claire At Edisto was the 2019 Best Books Award Winner in Fiction: Romance, sponsored by American Book Fest, her novel Welcome Back a finalist in the 2017 Selah Awards, and Lin and her husband’s guidebook Discovering Tennessee State Parks a 2019 American Book Fest Best Books Award Finalist in Nonfiction: Travel Guides and Essays.

Lin enjoys speaking for events, festivals, libraries, and book clubs, reading, hiking, exploring out of doors, and keeping up with her readers on Facebook, Twitter, and through her monthly blog and newsletter which you will find on her website at: www.linstepp.com

CONNECT WITH LIN: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a print copy of Happy Valley & Return to Edisto, matching bookmarks, and a $25 Amazon gift card!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule shown below. Giveaway will begin at midnight March 23, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on March 30, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US mailing addresses only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!