If you will be so kind as let me ramble a bit about why I wrote Katherine's Arrangement, I promise this will be relatable to you.
Long before I even knew I could write, I loved to read. Being a hopeless romantic I gravitated to all romance stories either contemporary or historical. I soon realized that finding clean fiction but still written with the passion of love that God created humans for, was hard to find. (Just read Song of Solomon, God was not afraid to express passion without being explicit. After all, love and sex is His creation.)
Given the gift of a writing career late in life one thing was for sure…I wanted to write clean romance, with a godly message, but also with realistic passion. My favorite theme was an arranged marriage…what better to set abject circumstances than right after the civil war. Thus, birthed the first book of the Shenandoah Brides that morphed into a series of 5 sisters and their 5 love stories. August 4th, 2020 is launch day for book one, and every six months thereafter another book in the series will be available.
I've written one contemporary romance Anna's Secret but after writing historical romance I have the bug. At the ripe old age of 58, I finally know what I was born to do.
Now, writing with purpose or doing anything in life with purpose a question has to be asked and answered. "Why am I doing this?" Why write inspirational romance rather than the kind that could make the big bucks? Because Jesus said in Matt 6:33 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the rest will be added to you. And so, I write for God. Of course, I want the book to be interesting and entertaining, but even more I want to leave the reader with a yearning to live for Christ on a deeper level, or at the very least, create a hunger to seek for more.
By spending time with God each day, I can be told to put my writing aside. Jesus may have different ideas for the day—weed someone's yard, deliver a meal to the sick, write that letter, stop everything and pray, etc. People are God's heartbeat. And I hope my words, my books, my heart, is pleasing in God's sight because in the end, that is all that matters.
Is this not what we all want as Christians to make our Father pleased? Our greatest joy…is His greatest joy. Jesus said we are the salt and the light to a very troubled world. Lately, it feels more troubled than ever.
My way of communicating with the world is with words, yours may be with your art, music, caring hands to the sick, meals delivered to those in need, a visit to the lonely. You may give with your money, your time, your heart. I have a good friend who is a professional massage therapist. She called me up when I was in the thick of a huge writing deadline and told me that God told her to give me a free massage. I was so tight with tension she gave me two sessions. What a blessing those hands were. Wherever God has you, what a precious gift to this world you are. One by one, when we live the life, we make a difference.
Here is the back-cover copy of Katherine's Arrangement. It is a story where life throws a hard knock. Who of us haven't experienced that? The principle of loving God's way as 1 Cor. 13 speaks of was a long and difficult road for Katherine to find, but once she did…there was no stopping love from finding its' way.
Marrying him is her only choice to save her family, but Josiah Richardson isn't at all the man she expected.
Katherine Williams's family was left destitute when their home was burned to the ground by Yankee soldiers, so the ready solution presented by the prominent Mr. Josiah Richardson seems almost too good to believe. He'll provide a home, work for her pa, and a new beginning for her family...if only Katherine will accept his proposal. A marriage of convenience is the last thing she wants, but there doesn't seem to be a better option for her family or herself. Setting aside her dreams of love, Katherine agrees to the arrangement.
The gentleman in Josiah Richardson can no more force his frightened bride into his bed, than he can force her into loving him, so he sets out to gently woo her. He works hard to befriend her, to earn her trust and win her love.
Katherine is pleasantly surprised to find herself drawn to the man she thought she would never love, until an unexpected friendship tears apart all they've worked for. Where once the promise of love had budded between Josiah and Katherine, now they wonder what to do with their so-called marriage. Is love strong enough to weave its healing power through two broken hearts?
Here are a few reviews:
Suzie:
Katherine's Arrangement is one of the best inspirational romance books I have ever read!
I was captivated from the moment I started reading. It honestly was a challenge to put down. And when I finished, I wanted to read it again.
Blossom has an incredibly vivid imagination and gift of bringing stories to life. The characters are authentic and relatable. Their real, raw, gripping emotions are palpable.
She brings everything to life in such a way that you feel you could be a bystander in the story.
I was intrigued by the way she wove the complex family dynamics throughout the book as we see the soul wounds of the main characters unfold.
I read with suspense wondering if Katherine's trust and devotion to God would empower her to win Josiah's heart for a second time.
God has gifted Blossom with a talent for writing comparable to the famous Christian author, Francine Rivers.
Katherine's Arrangement was phenomenal! I highly recommend it!
Janith:
I absolutely LOVED this story. Once I picked it up, I thought about it until I could pick it up again. The characters were real, and engaging. I really appreciated the fact the main characters felt authentic to me, and acted on genuine feelings. So many Christian books are puritanical, so NOT based on true life. The hero in this book acted like men do, which made me love and appreciate him all the more. And the heroine was equally likable. Do yourself a favor and pick up this delightful book. You won't be sorry. I'm looking forward to her next in this series; Amelia's Heartsong.
Shannon:
I was recently given the chance to read a digital ARC of Blossom Turner's upcoming book, Katherine's Arrangement. I have not read any of Blossom's works before but the synopsis of the book sounded interesting to me and I'm always on the lookout for new books and authors. It's also worth noting that Katherine's Arrangement is historical Christian romance and I was curious to see how that would play out. Sometimes, Christian fiction is cheesy and/or preachy but I am very happy to say that Blossom Turner's writing in Katherine's Arrangement was neither of those. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Katherine Williams and her arranged marriage to the older, widowed Josiah Richardson. While his love for her was there from the start, it took many years, trials and mistakes for her to recognize her growing love for him. The story captured my attention from the very first chapter and I even stayed up until 1:30 in the morning reading because I just couldn't put it down. Watching Katherine and Josiah's love for each other and the Lord develop was beautiful and real. There were also a couple of unexpected twists in the book that made things very interesting. I truly enjoyed this story and know that I will be reading more of Blossom Turner's books now.
The book can be purchased at the following places.