Review/Giveaway: Touching the Clouds

A WINNING READINGS GIVEAWAY!

Title: Touching the Clouds

Author: Bonnie Leon

Genre: Christian historical romance

How to enter: Leave a comment on THIS post right here! If you're a subscriber or a follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.

Entry deadline: August 10, 2010

Restrictions: Open internationally!

That's right, enter right here for this giveaway.  This is my review copy, so it has been gently read.

And there's a great Take Flight Contest going on at the author's website!  Winner will be selected on Monday, July 26th, so hurry on over to win:

• A 40 minute flight lesson with a FAA Certified Instructor
• A 25 page eBook covering all the details of your flight
• A training video to prepare you for your flight experience
• 2 Ground School lessons credited toward your pilot's license
• A pilot's log book to keep record of your flight time
• A certificate of accomplishment for flight completion
• A 6 month subscription to a leading flight training magazine
• A CD copy of The Airplane Flying Handbook
• A CD copy of The Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge

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Publisher: Revell
Physical Description: 368-page paperback
List Price: $14.99
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3359-9
For More Info:  http://www.bonnieleon.com/

Synopsis:

She went looking for adventure . . . and found more than she bargained for.
Kate Evans is an adventurous and independent young woman with a pioneering spirit. When she leaves her home in Washington State to follow her dream of being an Alaskan bush pilot, she knows it will be an uphill battle. But she never expected it to be quite like this. As the lone woman in a man's world, she finds that contending with people's expectations is almost as treacherous as navigating the wild arctic storms.

When she crosses paths with a mysterious man living alone in the forbidding wilderness, she faces a new challenge. Can Kate break through the walls he has put up around his heart? And will fear keep her from realizing her dreams?

Book 1 in the Alaskan Skies series, Touching the Clouds will draw you in with raw emotion and suspense, all against the stunning backdrop of the Alaskan wilds.

About the Author:

Bonnie Leon is the bestselling author of more than ten historical fiction novels. She stays busy teaching women's Bible studies and speaking at writing seminars and conventions. She and her husband, Greg, live in Oregon.

Just wanted to add here that I suspect not many others on this blog tour know exactly where Bonnie's rural Oregon hometown is and drive through it a dozen times a week!  Here's waving at you from within jogging distance in Idleyld Park...

What I Liked:

Relax...  Take a deep breath and enjoy the outdoorsy smells and panoramic view!  This was a refreshing change of pace from the intrigue and suspense books (which I love, too) I've been reading lately...

Alaska is the only state I have NOT been to, but I almost feel like I can check it off my list after books like these.  Though they also make me want to visit IRL even more... 

(All those elipses?  I think that's a sign of my relaxed state...)

Anyways, the author did a great job of transporting the reader back in time to a gorgeous setting - and I can think of no better way to explore Alaska's vast expanses than by air.  I appreciated the well-researched aviation and Alaskan history detail.  The suspense of the plot moved just fast enough to keep me awake and page-turning while enveloping me in the scenery.  And the main characters, with all their personal traumas and struggles, are well developed and admirable.

I do feel a little sad for the two men who landed up in the relationship dump yard in this story, and am sort of hoping they make their appearance again with the loose ends tied up...  I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the books in this series!

What I Didn't Like:  Nothing!  I will say there were a few lines that would leave my "homemaker" bloggy friends a little aghast that a Christian young woman would not be content with settling down, marrying, and figuring out how to cook.  Kate is clearly a Daddy's girl, though - I can see my own daughter turning out a little like this - and I love her spunk.
 
Follow your dreams, young girls, and when you do find an unfathomable, unexplainable love, bring that spunk and determination into your marriage with you...  Don't settle!

Thanks to Baker Publishing Group for the review copy of this book, which is available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Posted by Jane from Mozi Esmé