Southern Comfort Boxed Set by Bette Lee Crosby

Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort by Bette Lee Crosby
Kindle e-book, 681 pages 
Published June 24, 2017 by Bent Pine Publishing

From a USA Today Bestselling Author of Women’s Fiction comes a value-packed box set of three Award-Winning Novels

There’s plenty to enjoy in this trio of heartwarming Southern sagas… they are family dramas that will have you reading long past bedtime as you discover characters that take up residence in your heart and small towns that make you want to live there.

In these full-length novels you’ll meet three amazing women; women who rise up to meet life’s challenges and stand ready to defend those they love. As Abigail, Olivia and Ophelia know, bad things can sometimes happen to good people, but faith, friendship, and love have a way of righting the world’s wrongs.

Southern Comfort…fiction with a down home flavor.

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This boxed set of some of Bette’s best books would be a wonderful addition to anyone’s library. All three of these are the first in three of her series. They are all wonderful, magical, thought-provoking stories that will not only give the reader a taste of her work, but they will draw you in and make you want more. Bette creates such memorable characters and writes with such wisdom. Each book could serve as a life lesson for us all.

The Twelfth Child is the story of a beautiful relationship between an older woman and young women who befriends her. And the greedy people who want to get their hands on what doesn't belong to them.

Memory House is a story about memories and being able to find someone to carry on those memories so they don’t get lost. Bette poses an interesting idea; that memories are stored, but sometimes are forgotten, and that there is a memory keeper who finds and cares for those memories.

Spare Change is actually the first book of Bette’s that I read. She has been one of my must-read authors ever since. It is a delightful, homey story, with murder and mayhem thrown in, told with a little southern flavor that put a smile on my face as I was reading.

The Twelfth Child

Book One of The Serendipity Series

To escape an arranged marriage, Abigail leaves the Shenandoah Valley of the early 1900’s behind and discovers a world of untruthful lovers, joblessness and speakeasy’s. Now that she is at the end of her years, her best friend is accused of a crime and Abigail is helpless to save her. She knows the truth of what happened, but will never have the chance to tell.

Read my thoughts here

Spare Change

Book One of The Wyattsville Series

In this USA Today Bestseller a widow comes to grips with her loss and makes room in her heart for a young boy who is running for his life. Alone she can’t save him, but when a detective and the neighbors step in to help, miracles happen. A heartwarming tale of love, loss and unexpected gifts, featuring a woman you'd like to call friend, a boy you will ache to hug, and a town you wish you could call home.

Read my thoughts here

Memory House

Book One of The Memory House Series

A magical love story set in a place where friendship turns to love, love lasts forever, and memories outlive their owner. Ophelia Browne is the keeper of those forgotten memories, but now she's nearing ninety and needs to find a successor - soon. When Annie Cross shows up on the doorstep of The Memory House Bed and Breakfast, Ophelia knows she is the one.

Read my thoughts here

About the author

USA Today Bestselling and Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby's books are "Well-crafted storytelling populated by memorable characters caught up in equally memorable circumstances." - Midwest Book Review

The Seattle Post Intelligencer says Crosby's writing is, "A quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about important things in life and madcap adventures."

Samantha from Reader's Favorite raves, "Crosby writes the type of book you can't stop thinking about long after you put it down."

"Storytelling is in my blood," Crosby laughingly admits, "My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write."

It is the wit and wisdom of that Southern Mama Crosby brings to her works of fiction; the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away. Her work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. She has since gone on to win nineteen awards for her work; these include: The Royal Palm Literary Award, the FPA President's Book Award Gold Medal, Reader's Favorite Award Gold Medal, and the Reviewer's Choice Award.

Connect with Bette
Website | Facebook |Twitter | Goodreads

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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby

Jubilee's Journey by Bette Lee Crosby

Series: Book #2 The Wyattsville Series

Paperback, 300 pages

Published: October 15th 2013

Publisher: Bent Pine Publishing

When tragedy strikes a West Virginia coal mining family, two children start out on a trek that they hope will lead them to a new life. Before a day passes, the children are separated and the boy is caught up in a robbery not of his making. If his sister can find him, she may be able to save him. The problem is she’s only seven years old, and who’s going to believe a kid?

Jubilee’s Journey is Book Two in the Wyattsville Series. This story of discovering lost family and finding love reconnects readers with Ethan Allen and the other heart-warming characters of the bestselling novel Spare Change.

My thoughts about Jubilee's Journey ~~

Oh my, another book by Bette that I just loved. Jublilee's Journey is book 2 in the Wyattsville Series so I got to go back to that wonderful world of Wyattsville to spend time with the people I came to know and love from Spare Change. What an enjoyable visit.

Jubilee is born full of spunk and spunk is what helps her get through the trauma of her parents dying and being kicked out her home at the age of 7. She and her brother head to the city to find an aunt who they hope will take them in. Things don't go well and she is separated from her brother. Along comes Ethan Allen, who is the main character in Spare Change. He takes her under his wing and stands by her while they try to work things out. So once again, we become a part of the wonderful world of Ethan Allen and all those great characters who were there to help him, when he needed it.

I love Grandma Olivia, who is such a great character and has such a kind, caring network of friends who are always there to help her, even when their methods might be just a little questionable. I would love to meet Olivia and to be able to call her a friend. That's how real Bette's characters became to me, the reader.

Bette's writes so beautifully and creates a world that feels so warm and inviting. Her books are ones to savor and enjoy! And she writes great passages that are just so amazing. I want to share a few that I marked.

'He pulled his baby sister to his chest and held her there for such a long time their heartbeats mingled and bonded them one to the other for the rest of their lives - however long or short that time night be.'

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' "Where's hope when I need it?'

"It's probably right where you left it," Clara replied.

"Right where I left it?"

"Unh-huh." Clara nodded. "Hope don't leave. People just forget it's there." '

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' "Then he'll be back," she answered flatly. A thin shell of resolve crusted over the outside of who she was. Inside there were a million broken pieces, fragments of things taken from her life - a mother, a father, a brother, a place to call home, friends, familiar roads, a garden - the shell kept all those things from spilling out like handfulls of Cheerios.'

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'Everything had a price. The price of not loving was an empty and cold existence. It meant a lifetime of wordless evenings and nights where the chill of loneliness rattled in your bones. The price of loving was beyond measure.'

I know this post is about Julilee's Journey, but I loved Spare Change and Ethan Allen so much, and since it is book #1 in the series, I figured I would feature it here too.

My thoughts are here

A Woman who is Superstitious to the Core…

A Boy who claims his Parents are Dead…

A Murderer who wants to Silence the Truth of What Happened.

Olivia Westerly knows what she knows — opals mean disaster, eleven is the unluckiest number on earth and children weigh a woman down like a pocketful of stones. That’s why she’s avoided marriage for almost forty years. But when Charlie Doyle happened along, he was simply too wonderful to resist. Now she’s a widow with an eleven-year-old boy claiming to be her grandson.

Spare Change is a quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about the important things in life, the madcap adventures of a young boy and a late change of heart that makes all the difference in an unusually independent woman.

With a foul mouth, dark secrets and heavily guarded emotions, Ethan Allen Doyle is not an easy child to like. He was counting on the grandpa he’d never met for a place to hide, but now that plan is shot to blazes because the grandpa’s dead too. He’s got seven dollars and twenty-six cents, his mama’s will for staying alive, and Dog. But none of those things are gonna help if Scooter Cobb finds him.

About the Author

Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, and the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal.

Her published novels to date are: Cracks in the Sidewalk (2009), Spare Change (2011), The Twelfth Child (2012), Cupid’s Christmas (2012) and What Matters Most (2013). She has also authored “Life in the Land of IS” a memoir of Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world’s longest living quadriplegic.

Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

Connect with Bette

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby

A Woman who is Superstitious to the Core…

A Boy who claims his Parents are Dead…

A Murderer who wants to Silence the Truth of What Happened.

Olivia Westerly knows what she knows — opals mean disaster, eleven is the unluckiest number on earth and children weigh a woman down like a pocketful of stones. That’s why she’s avoided marriage for almost forty years. But when Charlie Doyle happened along, he was simply too wonderful to resist. Now she’s a widow with an eleven-year-old boy claiming to be her grandson.

Spare Change is a quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about the important things in life, the madcap adventures of a young boy and a late change of heart that makes all the difference in an unusually independent woman.

With a foul mouth, dark secrets and heavily guarded emotions, Ethan Allen Doyle is not an easy child to like. He was counting on the grandpa he’d never met for a place to hide, but now that plan is shot to blazes because the grandpa’s dead too. He’s got seven dollars and twenty-six cents, his mama’s will for staying alive, and Dog. But none of those things are gonna help if Scooter Cobb finds him. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about Spare Change ~~

I love the main characters of Olivia and Ethan Allen. They are as different as night and day, in some respects, but in other ways, they are meant to be together. Olivia is an independent woman who knows what she wants. No husband. No kids. An independent woman, before her time. And then there's Ethan Allen, (really parents, who does that?) the young boy who has to grow up quickly, when he should still be a kid.

I immediately connected with and admired both Olivia and Ethan Allen. They are both very likable, honest people who had bad things happen to them.

Spare Change is a delightful, homey story, with murder and mayhem thrown in, told with a little southern flavor that put a smile on my face as I was reading. There are some really great lines in the book. I am going to share just a few that I loved. 

'The year Ethan Allen became eleven was when things between Benjamin and Susanna turned rancid as a week old pork chop.'

Now if that doesn't create an image (or smell) for ya, I don't know what will.

'The Good Lord don't do things that way - when he sees a person's flat out of hope and feeling dead broke, He slips a bit of spare change into the bottom of their pocket; not a lot maybe, but enough for them to get by.'

I love it when I discover how the author connects the story to the title.

'I'm not really the boy's grandma and I've got no obligation, but I still feel for the child - everybody ought to have someone that loves them.' 

Ahhhhh.

'Let's see," Olivia mumbled, thinking out loud, 'there's a Methodist Church on the corner, and a block down there's a Baptist, then over on Grant Street, a Catholic Church ... they're all reasonably close by; which one do you think He's more likely to listen to?' Canasta laughed out loud. 'It don't make a bean of difference,' she finally said, 'the Lord listens in all those places. They're just different slices of the same pie.'

That is an awesome line - 'just different slices of the same pie.'

I love the way Bette writes.This story was very entertaining as well as being easy to read with wonderful, colorful characters. This is the first book of Bette's that I have read. I am definitely going to be reading more!

About the author

Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, and the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal.

Her published novels to date are: Cracks in the Sidewalk (2009), Spare Change (2011), The Twelfth Child (2012), Cupid’s Christmas (2012) and What Matters Most (2013). She has also authored “Life in the Land of IS” a memoir of Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world’s longest living quadriplegic.

Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write."

Connect with Bette

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

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WWW Wednesdays June 26, 2013

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads
for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

The Year of the Great Seventh by Teresa Orts

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Listening to the audio.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

This was a book club pick. Not our usual sort of read but interesting.

Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby
Great story! My thoughts will be posted tomorrow.

The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio
Sarah has done it again! I love her books!!

What do you think you will read next?

Grasping at Eternity (Kindrily #1)

by Karen Amanda Hooper

I don't know why I keep putting off reading this one. Seems like other books get in the way. I will definitely start it next.

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and

I'll stop by to check out your reads.

And be sure to check out the sidebar for my current giveaways!

GFC and Google Reader are going away real soon.

Follow The Book Bag on bloglovin'

WWW Wednesdays June 19, 2013

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads
for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby
Loving it so far! 

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I absolutely LOVE this book! Still drivin' and listenin' 

What did you recently finish reading?

He Belongs to Me by Theresa Rizzo

Loved this story! My thoughts are here.
And..... there's a giveaway for an e-copy!

Breathe by Kate Bishop 

My thoughts are here. 

What do you think you will read next?

 Grasping at Eternity (Kindrily #1) 
by Karen Amanda Hooper

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and

I'll stop by to check out your reads.

And be sure to check out the sidebar for my current giveaways!