How to Renew Your Mind and Grow Your Faith
Christian, Spiritual growth, Christian mentorship
Date Published: Sept 22, 2020
Publisher: Lucid Books Publishing
Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing over and over again without realizing it? Are you spiritually stuck, wanting a deeper relationship with God but not sure how to get there?
In The Butterfly Blueprint, Stephanie Miller uses each stage of a butterfly-egg, caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly-to show you five ways to grow your faith. By examining how your past shapes your perspective and understanding of the value of authenticity and accountability in relationships, you will learn how to identify and address your spiritual blind spots that are hindering your growth.
Stephanie opens up her own journey of transformation while providing practical steps you can implement to see real progress in your spiritual life.
● Your purpose will become clearer.
● Your relationships will grow deeper.
● You will create a new perspective to share your story with others.
You were not created to remain a caterpillar your entire life. Let God change your perspective so He can transform you into the beautiful butterfly He made you to be.
Excerpt:
When we operate under a false understanding of ourselves, we act according to that belief. If we believe we are worthless, not good enough, or unlovable, we will act that way. Sometimes, we know we are acting in a way that shows how we feel about ourselves, but more often than not, we are searching for things that match our viewpoint of ourselves. We strive to have our reality match our perception (even if it is a skewed, wrong, and horribly inaccurate perception). So in pursuit of confirming what we believe to be true, we often create the chaos ourselves. That is an example of what happens when we focus too much on the wrong things and let the fallen ways of the world influence us. It would be like a caterpillar eating all the wrong things in preparation to enter the cocoon. Filling ourselves up with the wrong ideas and false teachings will lead to these false perceptions of ourselves.
About the Author
Stephanie Miller, M.A., is a certified personal growth coach, writer, and speaker. Currently living in Colorado, she is the wife of a busy Army dentist, and mom to a strong-willed toddler and sweet baby boy. Together they enjoy going on hiking adventures. Her ministry, Butterfly Beginnings, specializes in helping those who are spiritually stuck by catalyzing change through connection with the Holy Spirit. She seeks to encourage women and challenge them to grow closer to God and in community with each other. Her past published works include I Am Enough in Christ, a workbook and devotional. Connect with her at www.butterflybeginnings.net.
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Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Janie Marie
(The Big Bad Wolf Trilogy, #1)
Publication date: October 27th 2020
Genres: Coming of Age, Fairy Tales, Young Adult
Fantasizing about Trevor Grimm is Kylie Hood’s favorite escape from her cruel reality. So, when he asks for her help on a school project, sparks are bound to fly and her dreams are going to come true . . .
Not in this fairy tale.
No, everything changes when Kylie meets Logan Grimm, Trevor’s older cousin and a professional MMA fighter some call the Big Bad Wolf.
He’s the first person to peer under the hood she hides beneath. He’s the first person to see the signs that something is wrong. He’s the first person to give her any attention. And he’s offering to help protect her.
But Logan’s world isn’t safe. It’s dirty, exhilarating, and dangerous. It’s everything Kylie needs to stay away from.
—
EXCERPT:
“I’ll be there,” came a male voice that wasn’t Trevor’s. “Put five on me. Yeah, I have it.”
Kylie snapped her head up and forgot the growing pain behind her eyes, because what she was seeing could only be a gift from God.
It was a boy. No, he was a man. A man-boy. He was more mature than the boys she went to school with, but not that much older than her—maybe early twenties. A hot twenty-something, at that. With the perfect body, glistening with a light sheen of sweat, he was glorious. Solid and lean—not an inch of fat. Just pure muscle and sun-kissed skin painted with beautiful tattoos along his arms, chest and—dear God—the attractive V dipping below his low-sitting shorts.
Breathe, girl.
She sucked in a breath. Thank goodness he hadn’t noticed her sitting there. He rummaged through the fridge, his phone still pressed to his ear. It looked as though he’d found what he wanted because he stood, shutting the door as he lifted an apple to his lips.
The man was a god. And he was about to see her sitting there. Staring at him.
“Nah, I think I already fucked her, didn’t I?” He took a bite of the apple, finally making eye contact with her. He froze, staring at her with the same shocked expression she had stamped across her face.
Kylie gulped, unsure of how to explain who she was and what she was doing there, eavesdropping, all while admiring the apple juice dripping down his chin.
“What?” he said, shaking out of his daze but not looking away from her. “No, I’ll pick one later.” He wiped his chin, and with a jerk of his head, his black hair shifted away from his dark-brown eyes. “I said, I’ll pick. Yeah. See ya.”
Kylie started sweating under his intense stare as he ended the call. At first, he just kept staring at her. His gaze drifted over what he could see of her face and body, which couldn’t have been much, but even with her hood up, she felt as if he could see right into her soul.
Too afraid to speak, Kylie looked back down at the table, hoping he would just leave her alone. He was too intense for her, and she didn’t need to know him to understand that.
“What’s your name?” He spoke roughly and to the point.
She knew he wouldn’t care that she was the freak of their school. It was easy to see he was the kind of person who demanded and received.
She started to say, “Ky—” but Trevor’s return prevented her from answering him.
“Hey,” Trevor greeted the man who had yet to stop his inspection of her. “I didn’t think you’d be here today. Don’t you have a fight tonight?”
Trevor dumped his work on the table, causing her to flinch.
The man-boy narrowed his eyes on her. “I do,” he told Trevor, still watching her. “Are you going to ignore your friend, or introduce me?”
Trevor looked over at her and said, “Oh, this is Kylie. Kylie, this is my cousin Logan. I live with him while my dad is overseas.”
Logan took another bite of his apple as Trevor took a seat. She nodded in acknowledgment and looked away. She wasn’t used to meeting new people anymore, especially sexy guys like Logan.
“What’s your last name?” Logan asked.
Kylie couldn’t stop herself from jerking her head up. He had moved closer, standing opposite her now. His eyes never left her face. He no doubt figured she was a freak like everyone else did.
“Hood,” she said, wringing her hands together on her lap. “Kylie Hood.”
The small twitch at the corner of his mouth threatened to turn into a smirk, but he took another bite of his apple, finishing it and tossing it into the trash.
“Well, Kylie Hood,” he said, sounding amused, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his hand as he cut Trevor a dark look, but he focused on her as he grinned. “Logan Grimm.”
Author Bio:
Janie Marie is a native Texan and resides in her hometown north of Austin, Texas, where she devotes her time to family, pets, and her writing.
Much of her life experiences--good and a lot of bad--are where she has chosen to draw inspiration from to create her characters and stories. It's important to her to create the kind of characters she needs or needed at one point in time because she wanted to create something only the saddest souls would recognize as brave and strong.
Be ready for raw, emotional tales, as Janie never holds back. With her darkest thoughts she found light is still possible, that the sad girl can sometimes glow the brightest. Because she is beauty surrounded by darkness.Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter / Bookbub
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Stroke of Midnight: A Cinderella Novel
K. Webster
Publication date: October 27th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Money can buy anything. And anyone. As the head of the Constantine family, I’m used to people bowing to my will. Cruel, rigid, unyielding—I’m all those things. When I discover the one woman who doesn’t wither under my gaze, but instead smiles right back at me, I’m intrigued.
Ash Elliott needs cash, and I make her trade in crudeness and degradation for it. I crave her tears, her moans. I pay for each one. And every time, she comes back for more. When she challenges me with an offer of her own, I have to decide if I’m willing to give her far more than cold hard cash.
But love can have deadly consequences when it comes from a Constantine. At the stroke of midnight, that choice may be lost for both of us.
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—
EXCERPT:
I stare at the two thousand dollars we agreed upon. It doesn’t feel real. Since meeting Winston, I’ve made over four thousand dollars, kicking me up to eleven grand in my college fund. It’s annoying the relief I feel. It would have taken me months to make that much at FGM Services. I know Manda offered to pay, but I’d feel much better if I could somehow pay for it myself, even if it’s just books and supplies. I hate having to be indebted to her.
I go to reach for the money, but his hand covers mine, stopping me. My heart does a nervous skip in my chest.
“Want to earn more?” His eyes flare with challenge.
I can do this.
I can endure his weird-ass fantasies because he pays well.
“Yes,” I tell him with false bravado.
“Then wrap those lips around your breadstick. Lick it and suck it. Like you wish it were my dick.” He nods at the bread on my plate. “Five hundred dollars.”
God, he is so freaking bizarre.
I’m about to tell him where to shove his breadstick when I decide to negotiate for more. It’s just a breadstick, not his dick. I can do this. Easily. I’m practically salivating for it anyway. The bread, not his dick.
“Eight,” I counter.
“A grand if you moan my name while you do it and don’t stop when Francis brings our food.” He winks at me. “Easy money.”
“Fifteen hundred and I’ll gag on it.”
He fists his hand, his jaw clenching, the first sign of a normal human reaction. Heat burns down my spine, pooling in my pelvis. I’m not turned on by him. Not a bit.
“You have yourself a deal, little girl.”
Closing my eyes, I attempt to distance myself from him as I pick up my bread. He clears his throat, earning my stare, and shakes his head.
“Eyes on me,” he murmurs. “Everything you do, I want your eyes on me.”
Author Bio:
K Webster is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her titles have claimed many bestseller tags in numerous categories, are translated in multiple languages, and have been adapted into audiobooks. She lives in "Tornado Alley" with her husband, two children, and her baby dog named Blue. When she's not writing, she's reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and researching aliens.
You can easily find K Webster on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads!
Can't find a certain book? Maybe it's too hot for Amazon! Don't worry because titles like Bad Bad Bad, This is War, Baby, The Wild, and Hale can all be found for sale on K's website in both ebook and paperback format.
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Shopping For A CEO’s Baby
Julia Kent
(Shopping for a Billionaire, #16)
Publication date: October 27th 2020
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
It’s Andrew and Amanda’s turn… in duplicate
We’re having twins.
Twins.
Which means my shooters are stronger than my brother’s. I win.
Yeah, yeah, everyone can say it’s not a competition, but it is.
And we all know it.
Two babies at once means double the fun, and double the misery for my poor wife, Amanda. While I’m growing a Fortune 500 company, she’s growing two entire human beings out of nothing but orange cheese snacks and ice cream.
Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked during this pregnancy, tracking down orange smoothies for her?
Not to mention being forced to Facetime into a childbirth class on perineal massage, rescuing Chuckles the cat from being shaved bald by my two-year-old niece, and fighting with a wife who has named the twins Lefty and Righty.
By the time we hit the ninth month, my entire world revolves around pleasing — and protecting — her.
Even if it means humiliating myself in the name of love.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute, now.
Hold on.
Is she the one who’s winning?
Andrew and Amanda are BACK in the newest New York Times bestselling Shopping series book as they “beat” Declan and Shannon in the baby competition, but at what cost? As their future awaits them in the form of twins, Amanda and Andrew face ghosts from the past with wit, humor, and most of all — plenty of love.
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—
EXCERPT:
I look at my phone. Andrew.
I’ll be home for dinner. What do you want?
For the last few weeks, we’ve ordered takeout every single night, because I never know what my stomach will or won’t be able to handle. I close my eyes and ask myself what I want, and reply:
Grilled salmon with paprika. Cantaloupe. Sautéed carrots in honey and cumin.
He texts back: I see you’re sticking with the orange theme.
I send an emoji of someone an orange sticking out its tongue.
Will do, he replies. I’ll have Consuela make it and bring it home after the gym.
Then I get a heart.
Consuela owns a private restaurant in the Seaport District, the kind that you can’t know about unless you know someone who knows someone. It’s our special place, and since morning sickness has ravaged me, Consuela’s been gracious enough to meet my weirdo dietary needs.
She also takes it as a challenge. My palate has expanded considerably as a result of her driving mission to find new orange foods.
I reply with: You mean you’ll have Gina contact Consuela to do it all, and have Gerald pick it up and bring it to the house.
Same thing, he texts back.
“I love how you smile when you think about Andrew,” Mom says, making me look up from my phone.
“Huh?”
“You two are so in love.”
My smile broadens. “We are.”
She looks at my belly. “Those babies are very, very fortunate.”
“Billionaire’s kids,” I mutter.
“No. You could be penniless and they’d be so, so blessed. You and Andrew are going to be wonderful parents.”
“How do you know?”
Tenderness floods her face as she reaches for me. I stand and bend before her, her hand on my shoulder, eyes shining with something close to tears.
“Because you have such a good heart. You always did. You’re smart and sweet and you care about people and want to help them. And Andrew loves you deeply. I may not un-derstand his ambition, but I do see that he’s a loving man.”
Author Bio:
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire). She lives in New England with her husband and three sons in a household where the toilet seat is never, ever, down.
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“REALISTIC & CHILLING!” - Mystery Thriller Week
As the bodies accumulate, secrets are revealed and alliances crumble. Ultimate survival depends on following the rules for a perfect murder. And the first rule is… leave no singing bones.
A college Halloween party. A night of fun, dress-up, and laughter. But for Kristy Wise, it quickly became a night of horror.
Now, Joe Harlan Junior, entrepreneur and son of a prominent senator, is at risk of losing everything as he stands accused of a crime he insists he did not commit.
Yet the facts are undisputed: Kristy was drugged, and she did have sex with Joe.
But was it consensual?
Read the story. Listen to the testimony. Is everything that happens next justified?
YOU decide.
What would you do if you got away with murder? Would you stop there? Could you?
Susie and Roy thought that they committed the perfect crime.
Their planning was meticulous. Their execution flawless.
But, there is always a loose end, isn’t there? Always a singing bone.
Now, while enemies multiply and suspicions abound, their perfect world begins to crumble.
The hunters have become the hunted.
Roy Cruise and his pregnant wife Susie barely survived an assassination attempt in their own home. The police now have them under surveillance. Meanwhile, Kristy Wise is a loose cannon—she knows too much and is trying to “set things right.”
What goes around comes around. And in this case, Roy and Susie may have pushed things too far. There are too many dead bodies. Too many foes plotting against them.
Roy and Susie must outwit the police and neutralize their enemies once and for all. If not, their days of retribution may end behind bars... or six feet under.
Genre: | Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Legal |
Published by: | Talion Publishing |
Publication Date: | October 5, 2020 |
Number of Pages: | 1050 |
ASIN: | B08KSCHTRX |
Series: | Talion Trilogy #1 |
Find out more or get your copy: |
Amazon & Goodreads |
When I try to piece together how this whole mess began, a part of me thinks it may have started over thirty years ago. At least the seeds were planted that far back, in the early 1980s. What happened then, at that summer camp in Texas, set the stage for everything that was to come.
Odd, how something so remote in time and geography continues to impact me here, today.
Sometimes I try to imagine her, how she felt—that eleven year-old girl—as she ran, stumbling and tripping through the woods that night. I try to put myself in her shoes. When I do, I wonder if she was frightened.
Did she understand the consequences of what she’d gotten herself into? I imagine it felt otherworldly to her, like a dream. But not a good dream. No, one of the bad ones—the ones that make your heart machine-gun as you try to outrun some dark thing that’s chasing you. But the faster you try to run, the slower you go, your legs feeling leaden, clumsy, useless.
Panic sets in. Tears of frustration form. Fear takes hold and won’t let go. You open your mouth to scream but realize, to your horror, that you’re paralyzed. It’s not that you can’t scream; you can’t even breathe. Not a dream—a nightmare.
Then again, all that may simply be my imagination. It could just be me projecting what I might have felt onto Joan. Maybe she wasn’t scared at all.
True, it was dark out. The night smelled of rain, but there was no lightning, only the far-off rumble of thunder hinting at a distant storm. There were no trail lights, no visibility but for the moon peeking out intermittently from behind a patchwork of clouds. But, Joan had been down this trail before. She was running toward the main cabin.
She had been at Camp Willow for almost two full weeks. She had been up and down that trail at least ten times a day, every day. Of course, that was during the day, and always with her buddy, or a camp counselor (the children called them troop leaders). Joan had never been on the trail at night. And never alone.
Maybe I imagine Joan was scared because, as an adult, I believe that she should have been. I would have been terrified.
***
Excerpt from Eye For Eye by JK Franko. Copyright © 2019 by JK Franko. Reproduced with permission from JK Franko. All rights reserved.
J.K. FRANKO was born and raised in Texas. His Cuban-American parents agreed there were only three acceptable options for a male child: doctor, lawyer, and architect. After a disastrous first year of college pre-Med, he ended up getting a BA in philosophy (not acceptable), then he went to law school (salvaging the family name) and spent many years climbing the big law firm ladder. After ten years, he decided that law and family life weren’t compatible. He went back to school where he got an MBA and pursued a Ph.D. He left law for corporate America, with long stints in Europe and Asia.
His passion was always to be a writer. After publishing a number of non-fiction works, thousands of hours writing, and seven or eight abandoned fictional works over the course of eighteen years, EYE FOR EYE became his first published novel.
J.K. Franko now lives with his wife and children in Florida.