About the Book

Everything is against them…

Born into slavery, Rapha is a Philistine who is almost twice as big as his Israelite masters. They find any excuse they can to beat him. When he is accused of murder, he runs off into the desert, planning to never return and hate all Israelites forever.

Nava’s mother died when she was born. Since then she has been raised mostly by her father, but her grandmother and grandfather have also helped. Her passion is to help those who need it most, whether it is watching the healer’s young daughter, Rina, or bringing fresh tunics for the Philistine slave who receives far too many whippings. When Rapha runs off into the desert with no water, Nava begs her father to go after him and bring him back safely.

Will Nava’s father find Rapha? Can Rapha learn that not all Israelites are untrustworthy? Will Nava trust her abba and Rapha to Yahweh’s care or take matters into her own hands?

A Beauty and the Beast reimagining set during the time of King David

Excerpt

Forgotten and untended, the roses grew wild and untamed across the ruins. The only living creatures to see their beauty were the myriad of animals who made the ruins their home.

In a no-man’s land between two nations, the ruins were in a lonely place far from people and civilization. No one alive knew who had lived there, what kind of people they had been, or how they had been defeated.
Local legend said a race of giants had lived in that place. Others said it had been sorcerers and magicians. Yet others claimed it was a place of the gods from a long-forgotten nation. How else could the roses still grow in such inhumane terrain?

But the roses were dying out. Each year fewer and fewer bloomed. Their beauty faded, and no one saw them or cared enough to tend them and make them grow. Rose bushes surrounded the massive ruins, but as this story begins, there is but one lonely rosebud in the entire heap of bushes. One single, solitary rose in the whole of the known world.

lohowarose

Giveaway

This book was released on the author’s 28th birthday! So she’s doing a super fun giveaway by sharing 28 fun facts about herself. To enter the giveaway, you need to collect all 28 fun facts and copy them onto this Google form with your email address and name. You will be entered to win the following:

• Trust and Obey paperback
• Lo, How a Rose paperback
• Handmade rose from the author’s wedding
• A Trust and Obey mouse pad

This giveaway is only open to those in the US. For those who are not in the US, you can fill out this form to receive eBooks of Trust and Obey and Lo, How a Rose.

Today’s Fun Facts

Faith is outlining a book set in WWI and will be writing it for NaNoWriMo in November
Faith had 3 ushers for her wedding, a now call them the Three Musketeers
Faith went from one brother to one brother and three brothers-in-law
Faith’s favorite writing drink is water

To find the other fun facts, check out the blog tour schedule below to know where to look!

About the Author

Faith Blum is a small-town Wisconsin girl. She’s lived in, or outside of, small towns her whole life. The thought of living in a city with more than 60,000 people in it scares her, especially after some interesting adventures driving through big cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Faith currently resides in the middle of the state of Wisconsin with her husband and their cat, Smokey. She is blessed to be able to have writing as her full-time career with household work and cooking to do on the side. She loves to paint walls as long as she doesn’t have to do hallways or ceilings.

When not writing, you can find her cooking food from scratch due to food allergies (fun), doing dishes (meh), knitting, crocheting, sewing, reading, or spending time with her husband (yay!). She is also a Community Assistant for the Young Writers Workshop and loves her work there. She loves to hear from her readers, so feel free to contact her on her website.

Tour Schedule

October 26
Bookish Orchestrations – Introductory Post
Lit Aflame – Book Review

October 27
Writings, Ramblings, and Reflections – Special post from the author
Kaylee’s Kind Of Writes – Book Review
His Princess Warrior – Book Review

October 29
Frances Hoelsema’s Blog – Book Spotlight
sgwilloughby – Book Review
The Treasure Within – Author Interview

October 30
Bookish Orchestrations – Giveaway Winner

For my husband’s birthday not too long ago, I decided to surprise him with a date night. He had to work all day so a night of fun and relaxation would be good for him. I didn’t want him having to wear his work clothes as we went out so I took it upon myself to pick out an outfit for him! (It didn’t work out because I failed to see the shirt I wanted him to wear had a stain on it.) Oh, well! Regardless, I picked something out and left this note on it:

It may be hard to read so this is what I wrote: Dear Jeremy, Put these on as well as your thinking cap…we’re going on a date, but you have to figure out what to do and where to go! You have 1 1/2 hours should you accept my challenge! Love, Frances

Do you think he accepted? ABSOLUTELY!

So what did we do that night? My husband LOVES going to watch movies so it came to no surprise when he said he wanted to do that, as well as get some Chinese food to eat. (Another no surprise – he loves Chinese food!) I definitely had no complaints since these also top my list of night out activities!

Anyway, we went to this fabulous, authentic, sit-down Chinese restaurant where we ordered a dinner for two. I swear that dinner could be for more, though. It comes with egg drop soup (the best, in my opinion), two egg rolls, four crab rangoons (my favorite), and then fried rice with two meat dishes. We were stuffed, but it was oh, so good!

When dinner was done, we went to watch “Beauty and the Beast.” We were hesitant at first because of a few things, but being one of the better options, why not?!??! I want to say that we were not disappointed. I think the acting was great. The singing was overwhelming at times, but you would get that with any musical. I actually had to laugh because my husband apparently didn’t remember that the original cartoon had singing. After a couple songs he asked if I knew it was a musical, and I just had to flat out tell him it’s all in the original, too!

One of the things we watched for was based on some news that had been going on around this movie. Some people were making a fuss about there being a part in the movie that would make gay people proud. I have to admit when I read that article that it turned me off from the movie a bit. NOT because I have anything against homosexuals, but because I didn’t think that would be true to the original movie, and who here likes it when things change!?!? Not me anyway! I also don’t like it when people use certain entertainment just to get their own views across. It happens a lot, though, I know.

So anyway, after watching the movie in its entirety (and I mean until the last of the credits scrolled past the top of the screen), we both came to the same conclusion: there was nothing that would have made me believe it was a moment for gay pride! In fact, had I never heard about this in the first place, I would never have once thought any of it promoted or supported homosexuals.

I share this because some of you may have heard the same thing and will not watch it now. I think it’s still worth watching! The movie was extremely well made, and I’m looking forward to when it’s on DVD so I can show the kids!

As a bonus, Ewan McGregor was in there! I had NO idea! He’ll always be Obi-Wan Kenobi to me, though!

Overall, great night. It’s fun doing surprises!

Multi-Genre Author

Lo, How A Rose Blog Tour