Fall into Love: Morgan's story

From Coffee Date to Wedding Day: The Story of Morgan and Steven Smith
A Fall into Love story written by Morgan Tarpley Smith

To think it all began with coffee…Well, it really began long before that because God knew our path. I thought I’d be single forever. I was okay if that was His plan. None of this was a surprise to Him, though it has certainly been one for us. It’s been a long journey with moments of joy and sorrow, regret and forgiveness to lead us to the day Steven and I had coffee as acquaintances in December 2013.

That year was one of huge growth for us. God spoke to our hearts in different ways – yet also in the same regarding romantic relationships. We reached a place of true contentment in Him alone. We allowed God to fill the void we tried to fill with dating and other pursuits, and it was incredible! God’s plan was always in action, but it took our surrender and release for us to follow it – which led to Facebook actually.

I’d added Steven on Facebook earlier that year after his Mom told me he would spend six months in Wales, and I definitely wanted to see his travels there. I commented on pictures, and we struck up a brief but witty conversation, which led to coffee when he returned. I prayed that the Lord wouldn’t let me make more out of it than it was – two people meeting for coffee. No pressure, no expectations. Only friends.

So I thought everything was fine, but Steven was so handsome and kind, and I had to be still my heart and keep myself in check. I sat there as if I wasn’t nervous and started asking about Wales. I was pleased that he wasn’t hesitant to talk about it all and much more. We talked for over four hours and right through dinner!

He seemed to enjoy the visit. But, honestly, I was more interested to know if he was as interested in me as I was with him. I couldn’t help it! It only took 15 minutes for me to want him to ask me out! But he was so collected (I thought …) that I was sure he didn’t feel the connection.

The coffee shop closed, but I didn’t want the night to end. He casually said he enjoyed meeting, and we should do it again sometime. I was like “Nope, he’s not interested.” Unknown to me though, a different story was unfolding.

Three days later, he asked me out. Our first date was January 3, 2014, and I knew 10 days from our first coffee that he was the man I would marry. It involved Pinterest oddly enough. I felt God urging me to start planning our wedding (After all, he’s the one who created my planner’s heart.), so I made a secret wedding board and got after it. Steven asked me to be his girlfriend the next day with the intent to pursue marriage, and we were engaged on April 19, and then married in November. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I thank God every day for the blessing of bringing Steven and I together and for loving us enough to bless us with our marriage of nearly three years (and the gift of our first child due February 2018) as an example of his love for his bride (the church/believers). I don’t know how to properly express how important and worthwhile that waiting on and following God’s plan is for everything in our lives. It’s the best thing I have done and ever will do. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways and He will guide you on the right paths.” - Proverbs 3:5-6

“For we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28

And I’d like to encourage everyone – no matter where you are in life – don’t give in to your own plans. Turn to the Lord and let His joy and peace fill your life and guide your steps, and you will find yourself on the most unforgettable journey you could ever imagine.

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Author bio:  

Morgan Tarpley Smith is an award-winning newspaper reporter and photographer in Louisiana. 

She is also an inspirational adult and middle-grade novelist. Besides writing and traveling to over a dozen countries, her interests include acting, genealogy, photography, and singing. 

She resides in Louisiana with her husband and is expecting their first child in 2018.


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Connect with Morgan:
Website - www.morgantarpleysmith.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/morgan.tarpley.5
Twitter - https://twitter.com/writerchic86
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/writerchic86/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4751242-morgan-tarpley-smith

Spring into Love: Linore's story

Welcome Linore Rose Burkard to the blog today! She's kicking off our "Spring into Love" series with a feature about her novel Before the Season Ends! It's a Regency Inspirational Romance. Here's the cover photo for her book:

Isn't that a lovely cover?

Read on for details! :)

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Author bio: Linore Rose Burkard wrote a trilogy of genuine regency romances for the Christian market before there were any regencies for the Christian market. 

Published with Harvest House, her books opened up the genre for the CBA. She also writes YA Suspense/Apocalyptic fiction as L.R. Burkard.

Linore grew up in NYC and graduated magna cum laude from CUNY with a bachelor's degree in English Literature.

Married with five children, she still homeschools her youngest daughter, preferably with coffee in one hand and an iPad in the other. Her latest PULSE EFFEX SERIES, takes readers into a "chilling possible future for America."

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Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Before the Season Ends by Linore Burkard:

Chesterton, Hertfordshire: England - 1813

Something would have to be done about Ariana. 

All winter Miss Ariana Forsythe, aged nineteen, had been going about the house sighing.

"Mr. Hathaway is my lot in life!"

She spoke as though the prospect of that life was a great burden to bear, but one which she had properly reconciled herself to. When her declarations met with exasperation or reproach from her family--for no one else was convinced Mr. Hathaway, the rector, was her lot--she usually responded in a perplexed manner. Hadn't they understood for an age that her calling was to wed a man of the cloth? Was there another man of God, other than their rector, available to her? No. It only stood to reason, therefore, that Mr. Hathaway was her lot in life. Their cold reception to the thought of the marriage was unfathomable.

When she was seventeen, (a perfectly respectable marrying age) she had romantic hopes about a young and brilliant assistant to the rector, one Mr. Stresham. It was shortly after meeting him, in fact, that she had formed the opinion the Almighty was calling her to marry a man of God. Mr. Stresham even had the approval of her parents. But the man took a situation in another parish without asking Ariana to accompany him as his wife. She was disappointed, but not one to give up easily, continued to speak of "the calling," waiting in hope for another Mr. Stresham of sorts. But no man came. And now she had reached the conclusion that Mr. Hathaway--Mr. Hathaway, the rector, (approaching the age of sixty!) would have to do. 

Her parents, Charles and Julia Forsythe, were sitting in their comfortably furnished morning room, Julia with a cup of tea before her, and Charles with his newspaper. A steady warmth was emanating from the hearth.

"What shall we do about Ariana?" Mrs. Forsythe, being an observant mama, had been growing in her conviction that the situation called for some action.

"What do you suggest, my dear?" Her husband reluctantly folded his paper; he knew his wife wanted a discussion of the matter and that he would get precious little reading done until she had got it. 

She held up a folded piece of foolscap: the annual letter from Agatha Bentley, Charles's sister, asking for Alberta, the eldest Forsythe daughter, for the season in London. It had arrived the day before. 

Aunt Bentley was a childless wealthy widow and a hopeless socialite. For the past three years she had written annually to tell her brother and his wife why they ought to let her sponsor their eldest daughter for a London season. She owned a house in Mayfair (could anything be more respectable than that?) and knew a great deal of the big-wigs in society. She had, in fact, that most important of commodities which the Forsythes completely lacked: connexions. And as Charles's family were her only living relatives, she was prepared--even anxious--to serve as chaperon for her niece.

Much to the lady's frustration, Julia and Charles had annually extinguished her hopes, replying to her letters graciously but with the inevitable, "We cannot countenance a separation from our child at this time," and so on. Charles was unflinching on this point, never doubting his girls would reap a greater benefit by remaining beneath his own roof. They knew full well, moreover, that Aunt Agatha could not hope, with all her money and connexions to find as suitable a husband for their offspring as was possible right in Chesterton. 

Why not? For the profound reason that Aunt Bentley had no religion whatsoever.
And yet, due to the distressing state of affairs with Ariana, Julia wished to consider her latest offer. With the letter waving in her hand she said, "I think we ought to oblige your sister this year. She must be lonely, poor thing, and besides removing Ariana from the parish, a visit to the city could prove beneficial for her education."

Ariana's father silently considered the matter. His eldest daughter Alberta was as good as wed, having recently accepted an offer of marriage--to no one's surprise--from John Norledge. Ariana, his second eldest, had been irksome in regard to the rector, but to pack her off to London? Surely the situation was not so dire as to warrant such a move. 

"I think there is nothing else for it," Mrs. Forsythe said emphatically. "Ariana is determined about Mr. Hathaway and, even though we can forbid her to speak to the man, she will pine and sigh and like as not drive me to distraction!"

Taking a pipe out of his waistcoat pocket (though he never smoked), Mr. Forsythe absently rubbed the polished wood in his fingers. 

"I recall other fanciful notions of our daughter's," he said finally, "and they slipped away in time. Recall, if you will, when she was above certain her destiny was to be a missionary--to America. That desire faded. She fancies this, she fancies that; soon she will fancy another thing entirely, and we shan't hear another word about the 'wonderful rector' again."

Mrs. Forsythe's countenance, still attractive in her forties, became fretful.

"I grant that she has had strong...affections before. But this time, my dear, it is a complicated affection for in this case it is the heart of the ah, affected, which we must consider. It has ideas of its own." 

"Of its own?"

Mrs. Forsythe looked about the room to be certain no one else had entered. The servants were so practiced at coming and going quietly, their presence might not be marked. But no, there was only the two of them. She lowered her voice anyway. 

"The rector! I do not think he intends to lose her! What could delight him more than a young, healthy wife who might fill his table with offspring?"

~*~
Review of Linore's book on Amazon.com:

Definitely Worth Reading
By Kindle Customer

This review is from: Before the Season Ends (A Regency Inspirational Romance Book 1) (Kindle Edition)

I discovered this book because, periodically, I download most of the books on the "Top 100 Free" list and give them what I call the "20-page rule," meaning if the book doesn't catch my interest in 20 pages, I don't bother finishing it. I really enjoy (clean) historical romances and Christian/Inspirational Fiction, and this fell into both categories neatly. I was pleasantly surprised by the book and was definitely hooked before I had read 20 pages. At first I was doubtful that I would like the main character, Ariana Forsythe (is that a romance novel name or what?), and thought she might be kind of wishy-washy or prone to tears, which bores me. However, my first impression was unfounded, and she really grew on me until I was emotionally invested in her story.

I would describe this novel as what may result if Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and Janette Oke collaborated on a project, so if you like any or all of these authors, you'll really enjoy this book. I don't want to give the whole plot away, but I will say that parts of it reminded me of "Pride and Prejudice," because of the characters' making snap judgments about one another without having all the facts and Phillip's tendency to come off as rude and arrogant, among other things. I was also reminded of "The Corinthian," by Georgette Heyer (one of my favorite books ever!) because of the humor in this book and Phillip's ability to be fastidious about his dress and appearance without coming off as anything but masculine. I would even say, to a lesser degree, that I was reminded of "Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Bronte, because Phillip has some dark events in his past that the reader is largely unaware of until late in the story, which have colored his personality, and Ariana is sort of a "balm to his spirit."

I don't mean to say that this novel has been done before, though. These slight similarities are just another feature to enjoy to the reader who has also appreciated the books I've mentioned. The plot is original and surprising, in a genre where you pretty much know how everything is going to end, but read it anyway. Just when I thought there would be no more twists, there's one or two more, and I really liked that.

Last but not least, as a Christian, I truly appreciated the way in which the author handled the matters of faith. Ariana's faith is genuine, and she is quick to recognize the (vast!) difference between fashionable religious lip-service and a real relationship with God. This and the all-important matter of salvation and forgiveness are included in such a way as to never sound preachy or out of place in the story. I will definitely read the sequel!

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