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Helsinki Sunrise by Marion Ueckermann




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.

                       
Passport to Romance Series Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HN3CgDoPm0

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.


"Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws."
Permission to use images of heroine obtained from photographer, Kyle Ueckermann.

Comments

Marionu said…
Thanks for hosting me on your blog today, Clare. It's an exciting day to see the HELSINKI SUNRISE today ... release day!

Readers can view the book trailer for this fun romance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siSdYlfkipY
Marionu said…
Helsinki Sunrise blog tour has two extra bonus spots this weekend. So be sure to follow the blog tour this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, to The Barn Door Book Loft http://www.barndoorbookloft.net/ for an interview with the author.

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