When the Flames Ravaged: Author Guest Post + Giveaway

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for When the Flames Ravaged by Rhonda Dragomir, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: When the Flames Ravaged
Series: A Day to Remember
Author: Rhonda Dragomir
Publisher: Barbour Publishing
Release Date: March 1, 2024
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Will Faith Perish in the Big Top’s Flames?  

Introducing a new series of 6 exciting novels featuring historic disasters that transformed landscapes and multiple lives. Whether by nature or by man, these disasters changed history and were a day to be remembered. 

Evelyn Benson’s husband perished in the Bataan Death March but not her faith. The World War II Gold Star widow is taken in by her brother and soothed by the love of his wife and children. Evelyn refuses to cower to grief. She may not understand God’s mysterious ways, but she has never questioned Him—until the circus fire. 

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus train chugs into Hartford, Connecticut, on a sweltering day one month after the Allies invaded Normandy. Among the roustabouts is a reluctant clown, Hank Webb. He may hide from his murky past behind grease paint as Fraidy Freddie, but God wants to offer Hank a chance to be found. Though first, what little Hank believes about God will endure a fiery trial. 

On Thursday, July 6, 1944, a devasting blaze of unknown origins consumes the circus tent along with Evelyn’s hopes and Hank’s anonymity.  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | ChristianBook | Bookshop | BookBub

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About the Author

Rhonda Dragomir is a multimedia creative who treasures her fairy tale life in Central Kentucky, insisting her home is her castle, even if her prince refuses to dig a moat. She is an award-winning author with published works in several anthologies and periodicals, and she co-wrote numerous Bible studies used weekly by more than 20,000 women worldwide. 

Barbour Books will release her debut novel, a historical romance, March 1, 2024. She is often invited to speak at writers' conferences on topics related to technology and graphics. 

Connect with Rhonda by visiting rhondadragomir.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.

Author Guest Post

Inspiration Behind the Story 

By Rhonda Dragomir   

“Tom, I’m so sorry.” Dale, my husband of only four days, had answered the startling ring of our hotel phone only to answer my father with words that shot ice through my veins. 

Someone had died. Probably my eighty-year-old diabetic grandmother. I took the receiver in hand and prepared myself to receive the awful news. When I learned it was not Grandma but my eighteen-year-old brother, I collapsed to the floor. Disbelief warred with truth, but truth always plays an ace. 

Joy forsook me, and faith followed in hot pursuit. How could a loving God allow something so devastating to happen? I spent all my childhood years sitting in church front pew, piano side as Dad led the church choir and Mom accompanied. I had just married a pastor and planned to devote my life to Christian service. God and I had a contract for blessing and fruitfulness, and in my grief, I felt He broke it. 

I can’t remember the words spoken at Randy’s funeral. I have a clear mental picture of only one event: walking away from his casket before it would be lowered into his grave. In an effort to cheer up the family, Dad insisted Dale and I open wedding gifts that night. It didn’t work. Dale invited my parents to accompany us on what was left of our honeymoon, and we clung to each other emotionally and physically while walking through a beautiful state park.  

My rope of faith had been nearly severed, and I dangled over the chasm of spiritual apostasy clinging to a few frayed threads that might snap at any moment. I shelved my Bible. I quit praying altogether. I went to church only because I was a “good girl” and it was expected of me. 

Seeds of anger had been sown, and soon they reached full bloom. God could have rescued Randy, and He hadn’t. My brother had almost stayed home from his summer job as an electrician’s assistant that fateful day because of illness. His employer knowingly allowed him to use a drill that exposed wires inadequately taped to restore its function. His shirt was soaked with perspiration that sweltering August day, and the shock had gone straight to his heart. EMTs were on the construction crew, and they tried unsuccessfully to revive him. God could have intervened at any point along the way, and Randy would still have been alive. 

But he was dead, and my faith was on life support. 

More than forty years have passed. I kissed and made up with God six months later but still had many unanswered questions. Little by little, God shed light on my circumstances, and though I still don’t understand why tragedy struck, I’ve found peace. 

When Barbour Publishing offered a contract for When the Flames Ravaged,” a story set during a time of disaster, I drew on my experiences to color the questions and responses of my hero and heroine. They ask the same questions I did, and they receive the same response from God I did when I grappled with the unthinkable. He comes, He comforts, but He doesn’t always explain. 

No one escapes death and tragedies, regardless of their spiritual condition. But I pray readers will find the strength to survive the stormy sea of grief and swim into a safe harbor. When my heroine asks why God rescued some people and not others from the devastating fire, one of my favorite secondary characters answers, “That, my dear, is a question I plan to ask when I see Him.” 

I’ll be in line right behind her. 

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Tour Giveaway

(2) winners will each win a signed, print copy of When the Flames Ravaged by Rhonda Dragomir and a print copy of The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top by Michael Skidgell!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight February 26, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 4, 2024. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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