Audra Jennings

New book by Beth K. Vogt explores how God’s best often comes disguised as a second chance Marriage is serious business — both for the couple tying the knot and for wedding vendors, with the average cost of an American wedding topping $25,000. As budgets get stretched, so can fraying nerves and already-taut emotions, as captured in Beth K. Vogt’s new Destination Wedding series. In the first novel in the series, Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Howard Books/June 30, 2015/ISBN: 978-1476789781/$14.99), paramedic Vanessa Hollister thinks she has moved beyond the pain of her first marriage — a “what-were-you-thinking” teenage elopement — and is planning an elegant destination wedding in Destin, Fla., with her new fiancé. Her dream of an idyllic beach wedding is disrupted, though, with the sudden reappearance of her first husband. Storm chaser Logan Hollister is used to taking risks, but a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning his career’s fu...

We start off tonight with Shawn in Kaitlyn's room to confront her since his jealousy is raging. And I do mean raging. After all, he spent a whole night with her talking back on his one-on-one date. So, Shawn wants to know if she is in love with him. She says, "I'm falling in love with you? What happened that made you feel like this?" He explains that as well as he thought it was going, she of course goes on other dates and it's hard. Kaitlyn tells him he has to decide if he can do this. She's not sure if Shawn knows what went down with her and Nick. She doesn't feel guilty for being intimate with Nick, her guilt comes from where she is in other relationships and doesn't want to hurt anyone. Kaitlyn is a total wreck in the interviews with just her in front of the camera. She supposedly doesn't want to hurt anyone who has put so much into this. After a commercial break, Kaitlyn is still broken up, but tells viewers that the group date ...

Rejoice in the Lord, Always Rejoice in the Lord always And again I say rejoice Rejoice in the Lord always And again I say rejoice Rejoice, rejoice And again I say rejoice Rejoice, rejoice And again I say rejoice [repeat]

I'm in Orlando for the International Christian Retail Show. (There's no Disney going to follow which I just don't want to talk about.) Yesterday, I flew into Tampa since my co-worker, Christine, lives in the area. We went to a Tampa Bay Rays game so that I could check Tropicana Field off of my stadium list. This morning we drove over to Orlando and started work at the convention center. I had very stressful prep week, and knew I couldn't sight see more before the convention, but I sure which I could have seen more of the beach.

Forgiving the unforgiveable Woman tells shocking and inspirational story of  corresponding with her father’s murderer If you asked anyone who knew Laurie A. Coombs, they would tell you what an incredibly strong person she was — the kind of person who can make it through anything . As Coombs details in her new memoir, Letters from My Father’s Murderer: A Journey of Forgiveness (Kregel/June 27, 2015/ISBN:  978-0825442292/$14.99) , that outward veneer of strength masked a crumbling interior. People had good reason to believe Coombs was as tough and tenacious as she appeared. When her father was murdered while she was in college, she sought justice — and found it. Her father’s killer now serves two life sentences with no possibility of parole.  “I certainly had been through quite a bit, and it seemed to me I had been the one who had gotten myself through it all,” Coombs admits. “‘I don’t know how you do it, Laurie,’ some would say. And in my heart, I’d thin...

Is it possible to experience close relationships with women who have different thoughts on church, different experiences with family, and different ways of talking about God?  Pamela Lau’s new book,  A Friend in Me , outlines five patterns women need to internalize and practice for initiating relationships. Most significantly, she reminds you that there doesn’t need to be a divide between generations of women. Together, we can have a global impact—and experience a deeper faith than we’ve ever known. {MORE ABOUT  A FRIEND IN ME } (David C. Cook, June 2015) Young women long for relational connection with women further ahead of them on the journey. Yet, without realizing it, many of us tend to distance ourselves from those in younger generations. Can we really have close relationships with women who have different thoughts on church, different experiences with family, and different ways of talking about God? Where do we start? In...

Can Stella discover who she really is and find hope and new love in the process? Don’t miss Betsy St. Amant’s new tale of love lost and love rekindled in  Love Arrives in Pieces .  A near catastrophe, a fire, and a small-town gossip mill finally force both Stella and Chase to realize that they have a choice—to hold on to the shards of their pasts, or surrender their fragmented pieces to the One who makes a beautiful masterpiece from the broken. {MORE ABOUT  LOVE ARRIVES IN PIECES } (Zondervan, June 2015) For so long, Stella was known for her beauty. Now, with her heart stripped bare, she must discover who she really is. Former pageant queen Stella Varland doesn’t trust beauty anymore after her divorce. Her appearance betrayed her and led to brokenness, so instead of being beautiful, now she tries to make beautiful things, but she always falls short. So she keeps her passion for art to herself and focuses on her interior design work. But if she doesn’t get an...

Life hadn’t been easy for Summer Snow—and her dying wish is about to alter the course of her life forever in  Anita Higman ‘s new novel,  Summer’s List .  A childhood friendship is rekindled, a romance is sparked, and mysteries are solved in one magical Texas summer. Will Summer strike out on love again, or will things finally go her way? {MORE ABOUT  SUMMER’S LIST } (River North, June 2015) A dying wish alters the course of a young woman’s life. Life hadn’t been easy for Summer Snow. In acts of selflessness-caring for her ailing parents and running her grandmother’s bookstore-she had forfeited her youth and dreams for the needs of others. And the only tries she had at love… didn’t turn out. She had the bookstore, she had her beloved granny, but she was missing something-or someone. Opportunity strikes when Granny sends Summer on an unexpected adventure with one Martin Langtree, a kind but gangly young man from Summer’s past. A childhoo...

Either all the build-up from the previews has just been leading us on, or this is the night things get really ugly on The Bachelorette. And I don't mean by this stupid sneak peek here. ABC doesn't have better previews available for embedding. We pick up with Kaitlyn ready to punch Ian in the nose. Actually, we start off with all the guys wishing they had more time with Kaitlyn as Ian takes her off. Then we get to re-watch what Ian said to her on last week's episode. This isn't a vacation for him like it seems to be for the other guys. He's not into the juvenile jokes. He sees her as a surface level person there to make out with all the guys on TV. Ian isn't there to plow her field. He's there to find a wife, and she doesn't seem serious about finding a husband. Kaitlyn says she's not as deep as he is, but she's not shallow. He has no humor, and humor is a big part of her life though obviously not the main thing. He plays it all off as tr...

I’ve Been Crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20); © Howard Publishing (Howard Assets, LLC) Used by Permission. CCLI # 1132191 I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I, But Christ liveth in me: And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave himself for me. (repeat)

An interview with Suzanne Woods Fisher, Author of The Heart of the Amish Everyone has been hurt. Everyone experiences conflicts, great and small. Everyone has someone to forgive. In The Heart of the Amish: Life Lessons on Peacemaking and the Power of Forgiveness (Revell/May 5, 2015/ISBN: 978-0800722036/$12.99), bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher reveals the lessons that the Amish teach about what to do when we just can't bring ourselves to forgive someone who has wronged us. The Heart of the Amish  invites readers into the world of a people renowned for their ability to forgive. Her in-depth, personal research uncovers the astounding, yet fundamental way the Amish can forgive anyone — from the angry customer at the grocery store to the shooter at the Nickel Mines schoolhouse. Through true stories gathered from a variety of Amish communities, Fisher illustrates how they are able to release their pain and desire for revenge, living at peace with others. Readers wi...