PureFlix Show Review: A Thousand Tomorrows

My Review of Episode 2 from Karen Kingsbury’s series,

A Thousand Tomorrows:

Today, I have another Pure Flix show review for you and a giveaway contest at the end of this post! In case you didn’t know, Pure Flix is like the faith-based version of Netflix. It works the same way, but the difference is in the fact that the content on Pure Flix points you to Jesus Christ and shows you how much The Creator of the Universe loves you!

Pure Flix is a one-stop shop for faith and family-friendly movies and shows where you can confidently stream in your home with the entire family. With new premium and exclusive original entertainment choices every week, Pure Flix streaming service has the largest variety of high-quality, curated, positive, encouraging, wholesome movies, series and kids' content in one service. Pure Flix is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment, alongside AFFIRM Films.

Pure Flix VIP Ambassador program asked me to review Episode 2 of A Thousand Tomorrows. This show is based on a book from #1 New York Times best-selling author Karen Kingsbury. They say, “Only God knows how many tomorrows we have left. In the dangerous and competitive rodeo world, how will Cody and Ali make the most of their time together?”

This was the focus for Episode 2: As Ali’s health declines, her determination to keep competing catches Cody’s eye. What will her stubbornness to pursue her dreams cost?

Now for my review: 

Episode 2 of A Thousand Tomorrows

“I don’t want to be normal. I want to be different. I chose this.” –Ali Daniels

I’d say this quote is the driving force for Ali’s story. She’s bold, brave, determined and dying. Ali is also the one woman who Cody wants that everyone is saying he cannot have. 

Cody is the hero of this story. From the start, you will see why he is angry at his dad to the point where he refuses to follow in his footsteps by playing high school football. Instead, he grows up to be a bull rider who uses his anger as the driving force that helps him win every time.

Carl Joseph is Cody’s younger brother who has a disability. He is the reason why Cody’s dad walked out on his family and Cody has never forgiven his dad for making that decision. Cody is close to his brother and very protective of him.

Ali, the heroine of this story, is privately battling an life-threatening illness. Her health starts to decline in this episode and her parents try to intervene. But she’s bent on riding horses in the rodeo and making it to the major competition in a few months. Ali caught the eye of Cody but she’s not like the girls he usually dates. Ali is a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and wants to do relationships God’s way, so she invites him to Cowboy Church.

Meanwhile, Ali’s Mom wants more for Ali than just the rodeo circuit. She tries to convince her daughter to take a break to enjoy a normal life in all the good and healthy ways. One of Cody’s best friends (Trey) is pursuing Ali and this causes a rift in their friendship. Also in this episode, Cody’s father, Mike, keeps trying to get in touch with him but Cody resists.

This is a well-crafted storyline. After watching it, I wanted to continue on to the next episode to see what happens next! The actors do a great job of staying in character and making their roles believable. The rodeo circuit scenes are true to real-life. It made me wonder if the actors used stunt doubles for those scenes. I sympathized with Ali’s sickness. I disagreed with Cody’s anger but could understand why it so hard for him to forgive his dad. I was on Ali’s Mom’s side because I want Ali to be healthy and happy and not be so focused on her dream that it causes her death. I definitely will watch the rest of the episodes in this series on PureFlix soon!

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors. It’s an honor to watch this series on PureFlix about her book of the same title (A Thousand Tomorrows). I’d recommend this series to anyone who needs to be taught the blessing of faith, family and forgiveness.

Themes of this movie included:

· Sacrifice

· Supporting your spouse

· Making hard decisions

· Making each day count and living each day to the fullest

· Death, grief, loss

· Chronic illness and being a caregiver

· There is freedom in faith

A Thousand Tomorrows is a faith-based series based on the book of the same title by Karen Kingsbury that will introduce you to Pure Flix, prompt you to join and watch it. Once you’re a member of Pure Flix, you’ll find more content to view that will encourage your heart. So don’t delay, join today!

Watch the movie trailer for A Thousand Tomorrows:
https://www.pureflix.com/movie/a-thousand-tomorrows

Before you go, enter this contest for your chance to WIN a FREE 3-month Pure Flix subscription! Note: This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. The giveaway starts today and ends on Feb. 28. If you're participating in the giveaway for A Thousand Tomorrows, please note that we cannot accept winners that have won a Pure Flix subscription in the last six months.

Here is the Giveaway Contest link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f8dcb68c439/?

Disclosure: Many thanks to Pure Flix for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own. #AThousandTomorrowsMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork

Spring into Love: Pegg's personal essay about a horse and true worth

A Worthy Steed
A guest post by Pegg Thomas

Writing for The Pony Express Romance Collection gave me a wonderful opportunity to combine my love of history and my love of horses. "Embattled Hearts", my story in the collection, includes a one-eyed horse named Cyclops. He’s a solid black thoroughbred with attitude.

When our son decided that he wanted to be a cowboy, we put obstacles in his way. You see, I’d had horses as a kid and I knew the expense and the work involved. We told him he couldn’t get a horse until he was 13 and able to do the work involved. He also had to take riding lessons first, which we weren’t going to paying for. And he’d have to purchase his own horse. That should have deterred any youngster, right?

Wrong.

He cleared the last hurdle just weeks before his 13th birthday, and had his money in the bank. It was time to horse shop. We knew our son was going to be tall—he’d passed me at age 12—so we went looking for a tall horse, something he wouldn’t outgrow. The market was high at the time and Quarter Horses over 15 hands were bringing a small fortune. Then we heard about off-track Thoroughbreds. Retired racehorses ready to take up a new career.

That led us to Jason.

Jason was a 16.2 hand solid black gelding with a been-there-done-that-got-the-tee-shirt kind of sanity that a mother appreciates. He was as smart and level-headed as any horse I’d ever been around. But he also had attitude. Did I mention our son was 13? One attitude deserves another.

Our son, who had been active in 4-H for years, was thrilled to take his horse to the fair. People proceeded to tell him that he should have bought a Quarter Horse. They told him that he couldn’t contest with a Thoroughbred. Never throw the gauntlet down before a pair with attitude. Within the year, our son and Jason were weaving between poles, circling barrels, sliding to a stop between chalked lines, and bringing home the ribbons to prove it.

The big black taught my son a lot of lessons along the way. He taught him patience. He taught him perseverance. He taught him trust. He taught him to overcome obstacles, some physical and some mental. He taught him to stand his ground. And he taught him that mom meant it when she said to unplug the electric fence before riding in the paddock.

I started writing "Embattled Hearts" almost a year to the day after we lost Jason at the ripe old age of 25. It seemed only fitting to capture his spirit in the story—which turned out to be my debut. I think Jason would have approved, although he may have given me some grief about the one-eyed thing, since he had both of his.

~*~
Author bio:

Pegg Thomas lives on a hobby farm in Northern Michigan with Michael, her husband of *mumble* years.

A life-long history geek, she writes “History with a Touch of Humor.” 

When not working on her latest novel, Pegg can be found in her garden, in her kitchen, at her spinning wheel, or on her trusty old horse, Trooper.

~*~
Blurb for "Embattled Hearts": Alannah Fagan escaped from a battle she wouldn’t survive. Stewart McCann left behind a battle he couldn’t face. Thrown together at Horseshoe Station, can they find something worth fighting for?

~*~
Buy Pegg's story "Embattled Hearts" in The Pony Express Romance Collection, available now at Amazon and Christian Bookstores

~*~
Connect with Pegg:
Amazon Author Page
Twitter 
Goodreads
Website 
QuidProQuills 
ColonialQuills

~*~

Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love is in the Air: Once-in-A-Lifetime Kind of Love, a book review

I love, Love, LOVED this book by Inspirational Contemporary Romance Author Becky Wade!

A Love Like Ours--the story of Lyndie and Jake--is one of those books that takes you by the hand and leads you through a whirlwind tale of innocence, heartbreak, trauma, drama, restoration then lets you down gently with a very happy ending! 

So it is with great honor that I feature Becky Wade's latest novel, which Bethany House Publishers sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

~*~

Once-in-A-Lifetime Kind of Love
Review written by Alexis A. Goring for Becky Wade’s book , A Love Like Ours

A Love Like Ours is one of Becky Wade’s finest, most intense, well-written books!

She explores the layers of her characters, perfectly painting a clear and correct picture of their hearts on paper.

The author takes Lyndie James—a beautiful free-spirit with an optimistic personality and a heart of compassion—and matches her with Jake Porter, perhaps the most handsome of all the three Porter brothers but also the most troubled.

Described as “Tall, dark and brooding,” Jake is wrestling with his PTSD caused by a traumatic accident during his days as a Marine. Despite not being able to control the circumstances that led to the accident and the death of his comrades, Jake who was in charge of his crew, blames himself and relives the trauma of that explosive moment very often to the point where he cannot sleep.

Deep within his heart is a safe place. It’s the place where he remembers his childhood friend, Lyndie. But since Lyndie left when her family moved away from Texas to California, that safe place is also a broken place and he blames Lyndie for breaking his heart.

So when Lyndie and her family return to Holley (Texas), Jake is more angry than happy to see her. But he’s not exactly angry out of well, anger; he’s angry out of fear because he realizes the place in his heart for Lyndie after all these years is still soft and he feels the need to protect her at all costs.

Jake’s innate need to protect Lyndie is challenged from the start of this story when Lyndie tells him she wants to exercise his horses and be a jockey for one of his struggling stallions named Silver Leaf. While Lyndie and her family lived in California, she received the experience and expertise that prepared her to be a great jockey and her compassionate heart that has a way with horses makes her the perfect person to help Silver Leaf reach his full potential as a race horse.

As the story progresses, the reader learns that Lyndie wants to help Jake too. The hurt in his eyes and his dark brooding nature does not deter Lyndie from her goal. A woman of faith, Lyndie believes all things are possible with God who is in the miracle-making business. But will Jake’s stubbornness and years of suffering from PTSD keep a permanent wall of steel surrounding his heart? Or will Lyndie’s love for horses and Jake break through?

You’ll have to read to find out the answers to those questions but I can tell you that you may fall in love with this story! It made me laugh, cry and smile.

The author is a pro at developing deep characterization, describing the settings and mastering the art of “showing” the story not “telling” the readers the action.

The reader will grow endeared to the childhood version of the characters as told in the Prologue and the reader will be captivated by the grown up version, dialogue and scenarios from Jake and Lyndie’s adult lives starting at the moment they are reunited in Chapter 1.

It’s such a beautiful story! The author takes you by then hand from page one and leads you through Jake and Lyndie’s journey from the beautiful beginning, through the challenging times and moments of despair, to the very sweet end.

What makes this book extra special to me is the Bible verse the author leaves on the last page of the book contains a beautiful promise from God in real life—Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version) which reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Another reason why I love this story—that’s my “life verse” and the reason why is a whole other story which I will not go into for the sake of closing this book review.

If you’re not convinced to buy Becky’s book yet, you may when you see the lovely book cover which in itself is endearing. The book summary also speaks volumes.

A Love Like Ours is worth every bit of a five-star rating. I can see this book being of one of my favorite stories forever.