Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for the Mended Hearts series by Patricia Lee, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Title: An Anchor on Her Heart
Series: Mended Hearts #1
Author: Patricia Lee
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Genre: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
McKenna Nichols, a young wife abandoned by her husband in favor of his work, is left alone to raise their autistic child. She promised to love him until death parted them. But when circumstances drive a wedge into their marriage and Dane chooses to escape what life has dealt them, how long can she be strong? Can she remain faithful to her marriage vows when tempted by the friendship of an unlikely stranger?
Rudy Taylor, who senses McKenna's loneliness and understands the difficulty of raising her daughter, struggles to keep his concern for the young woman biblical. Will McKenna’s faith in God and Rudy’s commitment to his Lord be enough to keep their relationship simple until McKenna's husband one day returns?
Title: Love Calls Her Home
Series: Mended Hearts #2
Author: Patricia Lee
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink
Release Date: March 1, 2018
Genre: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
Lissa Frye returns home from the Navy hoping to find a different future—one which includes a husband, marriage, and a family, until news from her sister impacts Lissa’s personal life and derails her plans.
Kurt McKintrick, having lost his best friend to an IED in Afghanistan, has returned to help the man's mother run a horse rescue ranch. Images of war plague him, and thoughts of anyone else he might love falling victim to an untimely end, distance him from the person most likely to help.
Eleven-year-old Jayden Clarke seeks to fill the ache in his heart from his father’s death two years before. But his life is turned upside down when the rancher who befriended him is found dead, the horses neglected, and the dog missing. When authorities arrive to investigate, Lissa and Kurt, estranged after a former relationship, are forced to meet again. Lissa must confront images from her past and Kurt struggles to live with his present truth.
Will Jayden be the catalyst that draws Lissa and Kurt back together for a happily ever after?
Title: A Kite on the Wind
Series: Mended Hearts #3
Author: Patricia Lee
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink
Release Date: October 1, 2018
Genre: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
Is Love Strong Enough to Overcome the Walls They Hide Behind?
Left waiting at the altar, Claire Simpson has buried her past and moved on, carving out a life for herself as a teacher on the Oregon coast. When her former fiancé appears, he threatens to unravel the peaceful independence she has worked so hard to achieve after their relationship failed.
Montgomery Chandler has moved to NOAA headquarters in Newport, Oregon to make new, happier memories for his children after his wife died of a lingering illness. Their home in Seattle held nothing but the whispers of their earlier lives. Starting over will help all of them heal, but Monty is resolved not to risk love again.
When the handsome widower enrolls his hurting children at the school where Claire teaches, her determination to remain uninvolved vanishes at the whim of a snowstorm. This family needs her expertise. Can she help them without losing her heart?
Patricia Lee is a published author, having written since she first learned what words could do at the age of six. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Oregon. Articles to her credit have appeared in Moody Monthly, Power for Living, Expecting and Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse as well as in two anthologies— Cup of Comfort Bible Promises and In the Company of Angels. She is part of a team of bloggers who submit short devotionals for FaithHappenings.com. Patricia is a member of the Oregon Christian Writers and of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband have two adult children and live in the Pacific Northwest with two sleepy cats.
Hi Patricia! Thank you so much for taking the time to allow my readers the chance to get to know you and your books a little better! I always like to start with something fun--- can you tell us 5 random facts about yourself that we wouldn’t find in your bio?
1. I am a horse person. I grew up with horses and showed them in 4-H until I graduated from high school. My husband and I owned a quarter horse stallion early in our marriage.
2. I play piano and organ, though I’m a bit rusty. I have played clarinet as well, but I couldn’t keep my reed intact so I gave that up.
3. My husband and I enjoy growing flowers. When he retired he expanded our little piece of cement at the back of our garage into a full-sized patio and garden area. Now we have created our own Italian villa in our backyard.
4. We love the Oregon coast and have spent many hours on its beaches.
5. Cooking is a creative outlet for me. I’ve yet to find a recipe that I didn’t want to improve.
You started writing at a very young age, and it sounds like it is a passion that never went away. Was there ever a time that you considered another career path or did you always know that writing was your calling?
Writing has always been a dream that lingered just beyond my grasp. I studied journalism in college with the career plan to work at an advertising agency upon graduation.
God had other plans and plunked me down in a church office as a secretary that wrote copy for the church newsletter and for the church’s camp brochures.
My specialty in college was magazine article writing. I didn’t realize that dream until I started writing freelance for Christian publications late in my twenties.
I never thought about writing a full length novel until a friend convinced me I should try. I wrote my first book as a challenge to myself just to see if I could. No one was more surprised than me.
The first book in the Mended Hearts series- An Anchor On Her Heart- was your debut novel. What was your reaction to seeing that book in print for the first time? Do you still get that same excitement when a new book releases?
It took me a long time for the reality to sink in—that not only had I completed a novel, but a publisher thought enough of it to put it in print. I am still awestruck when a book with my name on it arrives at my door. I feel like I’m on the outside watching the drama unfold before me.
The characters featured in this series seem to be broken and dealing with a variety of struggles, just as many of us face in our day to day lives. Where do you find inspiration for these stories?
Brokenness is all around us if we take the time to notice.
I attended autism support groups when my daughter was first diagnosed and noticed the numbers of spouses who came alone, many abandoned by their partners when the diagnosis of autism was placed on their child. Creating McKenna’s character came easily. My son spent a season in Alaska working aboard a commercial fishing vessel as an observer for the government and his reflections on the crew members helped form both the characters of Rudy Taylor and Dane Nichols.
In Book Two I had a friend who was diagnosed with stage one ovarian cancer. Investigating that disease gave rise to Lissa’s character. My husband worked with a Marine who had served in Afghanistan and he became the model for Kurt McKintrick’s character.
For Book Three Claire Simpson appeared in Book One at the school where McKenna first took Sydney. I had to give Claire a reason for being still single, working on the Oregon coast away from family, and a reason why she cares so much about the Chandler twins when she meets them. I also needed another occupation in Newport, so I chose NOAA and Monty was born.
As broken people, our relationship with God is so important to get through those tough times. What are some of your personal favorite Bible verses that you recommend to those struggling?
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Your Mended Heart series is on my own personal to be read list, I cannot wait to read them. I have found that authors are often some of the best readers too. What are some books on your personal reading list right now?
Just completed Sons of Blackbird Mountain by Joanne Bischof and read Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett. One Woman Falling by Melanie Campbell just released and I’ve read about half of that. TBR Half Finished and Beginning Again by Lauraine Snelling
I’m sure everyone is already looking forward to reading these books, but just in case anyone is still on the fence, let’s convince them. What are the top 3 reasons to read this series?
1. To increase your understanding of people with autism and the struggles of those who care for them
2. To discover the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the ocean that borders it
3. To cry inconsolably when the character faces certain defeat. If a book doesn’t touch me emotionally then it hasn’t done its job. These books will touch your heart.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions. Before we go, can you let us know what’s coming up for you? Anything new we can look forward to?
A fourth book in the Mended Hearts series will release in 2020. The three books in the series that are already published are going to Audible soon. Recording is being done right now.
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