Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Minding The Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher + Review & Guest Post & Giveaway

Six long years ago, Captain Reynolds Macy sailed away from his bride, looking forward to the day when he would return to Nantucket Island with a ship’s hold full of whale oil. But when that momentous day finally arrives, Ren soon discovers that everything has changed in his absence. Everything. “Is nothing on this island as it appears to be?” he whispers in despair.

Unlike most islanders, bold and spirited Daphne Coffin doesn’t defer to Ren as an authoritative whalemaster, but sees through his aloofness to the aching heart beneath. She encourages him to return to his Quaker roots and “mind the Light,” finding solace in God and community. As Ren becomes the man she believes him to be–honorable, wise, faithful–she finds herself falling in love with him.

But how can she, when her heart is spoken for? Tristram Macy is Ren’s business partner, cousin, and best friend–and Daphne’s fiancé. Love always comes at a cost, but when is the price too high?

Suzanne Woods Fisher welcomes readers back to the Quaker community on Nantucket Island for this riveting love story, full of unexpected moments.

Genre: Historical Romance
Release date: July 3, 2018

Click here to purchase your copy!

My Review

From loss and betrayal springs faith and love...

It's a rare thing indeed when I actually like the second book in a series better than the first. But, such is the case with Minding The Light, book 2 in the Nantucket Legacy series. I was originally intrigued by this series because of Suzanne Woods Fisher's slight departure from usual Amish fare to historical Quakers.

I loved how the characters are so flawed, making them more realistic. They make mistakes, even lash out, but love and faith are their redemption.
The dual timeline thing is actually really good. Great Mary's diary entries often parallel what is happening in the lives of the more 'modern' characters, and, her experience and wisdom are invaluable.

More than just an entertaining read, Minding The Light also has some important themes. Things that popped out at me were; the value of ALL people, doing the right thing even when it isn't popular and could be dangerous, and just how easy it is for the Faithful to slip into self-righteous hypocrisy that can really damage a person's witness.

I enjoyed reading Suzanne Woods Fisher's latest addition to her Nantucket Legacy series and I find myself looking forward to what she might have in store for her readers, and characters, next.

Tell Tale Book Reviews gives Minding The Light by Suzanne Woods Fisher a 4 Bark rating.

(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

Guest Post

from Suzanne Woods Fisher

8 Curious Facts you Probably Didn’t Know about Nantucket Island

This beautiful island, thirty miles off Cape Cod, is steeped in history. Here are just a few interesting reasons to add a visit to Nantucket to your bucket list.

1) During the first half of the nineteenth century, Nantucket was considered to be the wealthiest port in the world…all because of whale oil.

2) Petticoat Row is a 19th century nickname for a portion of Centre Street between Main Street and Broad Street. Many shops on Nantucket were run by women while the men were off to sea in whaling ships for years at a time. Quakerism, with its emphasis on equality, provided working women with community respect, value and esteem. The next time you’re visiting Nantucket, be sure to stop by the Petticoat Row Bakery for a morning glory muffin.

3) The use of laudanum (opium) was described by a visiting French as prevalent among the women of Nantucket. Loyal Nantucketers vehemently denied his claim. However, in the 1980s, construction workers digging to Nantucket’s sewer lines found heaps of opium bottles buried in the ground.
For centuries, laudanum was considered to be not only harmless but beneficial. Its very name in Latin is landare, which means to praise. Other names for it: Mother’s Helper (to sedate children), Sea Calm (for seasickness). It was used for all kinds of ailments, from sleeplessness to menstrual cramps to treatment of chronic pain, and available without prescription up until the twentieth century, when it was found to be highly addictive.

4) Nantucket Cent Schools were a carryover from England and the cost was exactly what the name implied. In New England they were kept by refined, thrifty women who often taught their own or their neighbors’ children until they were old enough to enter schools of a higher grade. I came across a story of a boy whose mother stuck a penny in his mouth each day so that he would remember to pay the teacher.

5) Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville in 1851, was based on a true-life event that occurred in 1820 to the Nantucket whaleship Essex and her crew. You can find out more about this ill-fated voyage if you visit Nantucket’s awesome whaling museum.

6) Speaking of…the whaling museum on Nantucket Island is called the Peter Foulger Whaling Museum. Peter Foulger was one of the early settlers to the island, and could be considered a Renaissance Man: inventor, surveyor, teacher, missionary to the Wampanoag Indians. And his grandson was none other than Benjamin Franklin.

7) Nantucketers were, for the most part, related to each other in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The prosperous island was settled by a small group of families, with less than a dozen surnames: Coffin, Macy, Starbuck, Bunker, Hussey, Gardner, Mayhew, Swain, Barnard, Coleman, Worth, Mitchell. Those names are still common on the island.

8) There’s a good reason those surnames sound familiar to you—many of those early settlers had descendants who started business empires. Recognize these? Macy (retailer) and Folger (coffee).

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Carol-award winner Suzanne Woods Fisher writes untold stories about inspiring people. With over one million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction, ranging from Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World to the historical novel Anna’s Crossing.

It's Time For A Giveaway!

To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away a $10 Starbucks gift card to five winners!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

https://promosimple.com/ps/d1c4/minding-the-light-celebration-tour-giveaway

Blog Stops

July 3
Carpe Diem
Livin Lit
midnightbookaholic
July 4
The Avid Reader
Margaret Kazmierczak
The Power of Words
July 5
A Baker’s Perspective
Blossoms and Blessings
A Reader’s Brain
July 6
Just the Write Escape
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions
July 7
Bibliophile Reviews
Mary Hake
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations
July 8
Texas Book-aholic
Simple Harvest Reads (Guest post from Mindy Houng)
July 9
Janices book reviews
Captive Dreams Window
Book by Book
July 10
Back Porch Reads
Reading Is My SuperPower
Splashes of Joy
July 11
The Morning Chapter
Vicky Sluiter
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses
July 12
Among the Reads
proud to be an autism mom
Two Points of Interest
July 13
Abbas Prayer Warrior Princess
Tell Tale Book Reviews
Blogging With Carol
July 14
Truth and Grace Writing and Life Coaching
Maureen’s Musings
Southern Gal Loves to Read
July 15
Godly Book Reviews
Inklings and notions
Bigreadersite
July 16
Connie’s History Classroom
Locks, Hooks and Books
Pause for Tales
Have A Wonderful Day

Images of Nantucket from Pixabay.com