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This blog tour follows on from
yesterday's stop at Tatum's
Thoughts 4 Today. Diane shared with us her journey in
critiquing this novelette. To increase
your chances of winning Helsinki Sunrise in eBook, take a journey to each of
the stops on this three-week blog tour and leave a comment along with your
email address.
Tagline:
He needed the
island to himself. So did she.
Blurb:
Three weeks
alone at a friend’s summer cottage on a Finnish lake to fast and pray. That was
Adam Carter's plan. But sometimes plans go awry.
On an impromptu
trip to her family's secluded summer cottage, the last thing Eveliina Mikkola
expected to find was a missionary from the other side of the world—in her
sauna.
Determined to
stay, Eveliina will do whatever it takes—from shortcrust pastry to shorts—to
send the man of God packing. This island’s too small for them both.
Adam Carter,
however, is not about to leave.
Will he be able
to resist her temptations?
Can she
withstand his prayers?
Extract:
Eveliina nodded. “I need to be on
my own for a while, and I don’t want to drive far to get that. Besides, I love
that wooden cabin.”
Joel shifted on his feet. “Was it
that stressful in Vaasa?”
“You have no idea.”
He looked down at the floor. “Do
you think you’ll have some designs ready when you get back?”
A sigh escaped. What part of ‘time
out’ did he not understand?
“I’ll try my best, boss.”
****
In far too many ways, Adam Carter
should have been better prepared for this mission, but he’d been busy saving
souls back home in rural Africa. And everything had happened so fast.
The call from his Finnish friend,
Mikko Mikkola, came as a surprise—the command from God to go, totally
unexpected. That’s why these three weeks of seclusion at this cottage were so
important. Going into battle was never easy; wrestling against the forces of
darkness, the hardest of fights. He needed this time alone with God—to fast, to
pray, to connect with heaven. Nothing could disturb him out here on this little
island.
My Review:
Character Interview:
1.)
Tell
us your name and a little bit about yourself?
My name is Eveliina Mikkola. I was born 26 years ago
in the place where children’s dreams are made—the home of Santa Claus—Rovanemi,
Lapland.
I have a Degree in Visual Arts and am the VFX
Director at Savant Studios. I love 3D Design, Animation and Visual Effects.
After my parents died when I was fifteen, I was
raised by my grandmother and grandfather, or Mummo and Ukki as I’ve always
fondly called them in my native language.
I have an older brother, Mikko. I’ve no idea what my
parents were thinking when they named him. He doesn’t seem to mind and thinks
Mikko Mikkola sounds pretty cool.
2.)
Tell
us about where you live and why you choose to live there?
I live in a two-bedroomed apartment in Helsinki,
Finland. Where else should a Visual Effects Artist live but in the design
capital of the world?
3.)
What
is a quirk of your personality that most people wouldn't know?
Whenever I go to my grandparents’ summer cottage in
Helsinki, I will always walk down the narrow wooden jetty and peer across the
lake to the island where the summer cottage is located, hoping to catch a
glimpse of my favorite place on earth. I’ve done this since I was I child.
After all the years, I still haven’t accepted that I can’t see the cottage from
that angle and every time I go there, I try. Perhaps it keeps the little girl
inside of me alive.
4.)
Name
two things you would hate people to know about you?
Just two?
OK, firstly, I think the relationship I’m in with my
boss is for my own personal comfort. Nothing to be proud of, so I’d hate anyone
to know that I don’t believe I’m really in love with Joel. Especially Joel. Why
else would his talk of marriage make me so uncomfortable?
Secondly, I do like to get my own way, and I’ll
manipulate if necessary to get it.
5.)
Tell
us about your special lady/bloke. What makes her/him special?
Ah… Adam J
Adam Carter is a missionary from Africa, and what a man of God. Of course, when
we met, that was not the thing that attracted me to him. When Adam prays,
things happen. So I guess I stood no chance once he started praying for my
soul. I really don’t know of another man who’d go without food for a fortnight
so he could fast and pray for a country, a city, and a woman he barely knew.
6.)
The
first time you saw him, what did you think?
Did
you like him immediately, or did he have to grow on you?
The first thought…what’s a dark-haired stranger
doing in my sauna, on my island?
Besides the curse words I let out when I dropped the
log I was carrying into the sauna on my toe, the first words I spoke to Adam
were:
·
Who are you?
·
What are you doing
here?
·
What do you want?
…in rapid fire succession. Not exactly the makings
for a romance.
Except for my brother, Mikko, I have an intense
dislike of missionaries. So, no, I did not like Adam immediately. He had to
leave. And I did my best to make that happen.
Adam, however, was nothing but charming and helpful,
a man of integrity who stands by his convictions no matter the cost. And he’s
so much fun, too: paint fights, water fights, blueberry fights… I hope all
fights with him will be as enjoyable.
He also looks really good in a T-Shirt and jeans, so
it didn’t take me long to secretly want him to stay.
7.)
What
would he hate people to know about him?
Adam is an open book. I don’t think there’s a thing
he’d be ashamed of. Actually, I don’t think there’s a thing he’s done that he’d
be ashamed of (although Adam’s so humble, he’s probably got a long list of
minor misdemeanors for which he’s eternally grateful they’re washed away in the
blood of Jesus.) I’ve never met a man so content with himself. Adam is truly
secure about who he is in Jesus.
8.)
What
is your favourite thing to eat and drink?
Mummo’s blueberry pie with ice cream and a cup of
kahvi. Sorry, coffee.
9.) If you had
to fight, what would be your weapon of choice and why?
That’s easy, my tongue. There’s no sharper weapon I
could choose, and have you ever heard how scary cursing sounds in Finnish?
Heck, nursery rhymes sound scary in Finnish J
a) Pepsi or coke
Coke. It’s the real thing, and as my days are spent
creating fantasy, I have to have something real in my world.
b) Tea or coffee
Coffee, of course. I’m Finnish, and Finns are the
world's most voracious coffee-drinkers.
c) Elephant or tiger
Actually, I like Lemurs the best. But, Africa equals
elephants. My love for Adam Carter, my missionary from Africa, has to be the
biggest reason I’m crazy about these giant creatures now, although I do prefer
them to be animated.
When I think of Tigers, I think of the Life of Pi…boring (yawn). But then
again, Winnie the Pooh’s friend, Tigger, could just change my mind. He’s
fun…like Adam on a caffeine high.
Some of my favorites pachyderms are: Dr. Seuss’s eccentric but lovable Horton; the
age old Dumbo—he’s just the cutest and the only flying elephant I know; and one
cannot forget the Jungle Book’s Dawn Patrol (or Jungle Patrol) led by the
stately, ill-tempered, Colonel Hathi. Like a true elephant, he never
forgets. Lastly, you just have to love
the heffalumps that terrorize Winnie the Pooh’s dreams.
d) Roast dinner or burger and chips (fries for
our US readers)
Definitely a roast dinner. I’m not really into junk
food, and like all good Finnish women, I love to cook. As long as that roast is
followed by my Mummo’s blueberry pie and ice cream.
e) Classical music or pop
Pop. It would be hard to create fun and entertaining
animated creatures listening to classical music, I think. I need that thumping
beat to get the creative juices flowing.
f) Sunrise or sunset
In the land of the midnight sun, there’s no
difference really…our summer sunsets merely blend into sunrises.
g) Walk or run
Walk for sure. For me, there’s nothing like taking
metsä, that’s a Finnish term for a walk in the forest. I love the peace and
seclusion—the aloneness—it offers. Did you now that the body starts to
physically recover from stress minutes after entering a forest? Can I just stop
here and say that I take metsä a lot?
And who wouldn’t de-stress when in a forest? You can
pick berries, mushrooms, hunt... I love the forest.
h) Chocolate or crisps (chips for our US
readers)
Chocolate.
Have you seen the great choices we have in Finland? Yet another reason I have
to take metsä a lot.
Bio:
Marion Ueckermann’s
passion for writing was sparked in 2001 when she moved to Ireland with her
husband and two sons. Since then she has published devotional articles and
stories in Winners, The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter (Tyndale House
Publishers) and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven. Her
debut novelette, Helsinki Sunrise, releases 22 August 2014 by Pelican Book Group
(White Rose Publishing) – Passport to Romance series. Marion blogs for
International Christian Fiction Writers and Beauty for Ashes. She belongs to
Christian Writers of South Africa and American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives
in Pretoria East, South Africa in an empty nest with her husband and their
crazy black Scottie, Wally.
Links:
You can find
Marion at:
This blog is run by Christian authors from across the globe, writing
fiction with a foreign flair, for His glory. My blogs post approximately every
six weeks.
Real women, real lives, real faith. My
blogs post at random dates.
This is my
personal blog of the journey into missions I have made and am making as the
mother of a missionary. Blogs post every Friday.
http://babushkasbraggybaggy.wordpress.com/
This is my
personal blog of being a grandmother.
Be sure to follow this blog on Monday, 25th at Johnnie Donley and see why Marion Ueckermann chose Finland for this fun
romance novelette.
To stand a chance in the draw to win an ebook copy of Helsinki Sunrise, please leave a
comment with your email address.
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Permission
to use images of heroine obtained from photographer, Kyle Ueckermann.
Comments
Readers can view the book trailer for this fun romance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siSdYlfkipY