Blurb:
Anna Babic Robbins, dubbed "The Rose Of The Adriatic" by
pilgrims to her village, leaves her home bound for America. She is to deliver
secrets concerning the fate of the world to a Chicago priest who will shepherd
mankind to prepare to hear God speak.
Four women travel to Las Vegas, and while there, snow begins to
fall during triple digit heat. They soon learn that the non-accumulating
snowfall is a worldwide phenomenon—a universal sign from God preceding the gift
of a permanent sign inexplicable by earthly standards.
With the culmination of these miraculous events, all their paths
intersect, and God will reveal His plans to each soul on earth.
Will mankind listen?
Extract:
Matt clasped Anna’s hand and led her to the
bench. “She’s speaking English today? My poor Anna, you’re outnumbered in this
family,” he teased.
“For three days in a row now, she abandons
Croatian. My English has improved since I married my American doctor and became
a mother.”
Matt brushed the back of Anna’s hand with a
soft kiss. “Your English is perfect.”
His penetrating gaze was clinical,
characteristic of his acute intelligence, his M.D., and Ph.D. degrees.
“Doctor-Doctor” Matt Robbins never missed a thing.
“But you’re not yourself today, love. I
don’t think I’ve ever seen that expression on your face. What’s troubling you?
Did our little rose really scare you that much?”
“No…yes…” Anna shook her head. “Everything
confuses me today. I was frightened and a little amused, too. Seeing her try to
go up the wall made me think of your first visit here. Remember how you climbed
the garden wall to steal a rose, so you could analyze it and prove that I’m a
big liar?”
Matt chuckled. “I do remember every second
with you.”
He smiled sheepishly. “I poked and prodded
and tested you. You passed the lie detector test with flying colors.”
“Colors fly?”
He gently rotated her hand and kissed the
palm. “That means you weren’t a liar, and I was a skeptical scientist. I confessed
what I was up to that night before I resorted to thievery. And, eventually…I believed.”
“Yes.” The heaviness around her heart
lightened, remembering all that led her to fall in love with the man who made
her dreams come true.
“And I married the most extraordinary woman
on the planet and have been graced beyond measure. Just look at our little
miracle,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Ruža sat in the dirt, inspecting a smooth
stone. She peered at the rock and spun it around in her hands as if deciphering
its composition.
"She is so like you," Anna
remarked.
Matt smiled, his eyes twinkling as he gazed
at their daughter. "Maybe in some things. But, thank God, she looks just
like you. Beautiful. Those soft brown eyes melt me every time. And she has your
shiny, honey-blonde hair. We’ll have to beat the boys off with a big stick when
she’s grown."
“I don’t understand,” Anna said. “You’d
strike her suitors?”
He turned his attention to Anna and gazed
deeply into her eyes. "I love you," he said.
Anna's spirits lifted, thrilled at the
expression in her husband's sparkling eyes that mirrored their abiding love.
"I love you, too."
Giving her hands a squeeze, he asked,
"Feel better now?"
More at ease, she replied, "Yes, thank
you. I feel foolish."
"Good."
She knitted her brows and he chuckled.
"Good that you feel better...not that
you feel foolish," he clarified.
Stretching out his legs, he relaxed on the
bench. “Aren't you going to ask why I'm home in the middle of the day?"
Widening her eyes, she joked, "Because
you missed me too terribly to bear it."
He beamed a smile and replied,
"There's that. But...Anna you won't believe it. All five terminally ill
patients at Mir House were
spontaneously cured! It was magnificent. I wish you had been there to see it.
Harry and I are left with nothing to do."
An obscure dread colored Anna's elation at
the unprecedented, wondrous news. Her thoughts whirled as she considered this
event’s possible connection to her lingering apprehension all day.
Matt's voice muted in her consciousness.
"There's a procession up Gospa Hill
planned this evening,” he said. “I thought we could hike up Salvation Mountain
now for reflection and thanksgiving. Just us three..."
"Anna. Come."
The sweet, beloved voice she knew so well
blotted out earthly reality, and Anna shot off the bench.
"What? Anna!" The shock in Matt’s
voice penetrated the haze.
Breaking into a run Anna shouted, "Our
Lady comes. Matt. Quick. Bring the baby. The chapel..."
Buy links
Author interview:
How does your faith affect your writing?
Our Catholic faith is central to everything
we write - especially, of course, our Christian fiction. The true genesis of
the Adriatic prequel and sequel novels and the Gospa Journeys novellas that
precede Rose In The Desert was during prayer in a Eucharistic chapel in a
Marian apparition site. Kathie emerged from her communion with Christ in the
Blessed sacrament having received the clear message that K.M. Daughters HAD to
write about this place. The fictional Valselo was born from that.
If
you were a pair shoes, what style, brand, and color would you be?
Most any brand of comfy walking shoes.
Kathie usually opts for white and Pat likes day glow yellow. We literally walk
the soles off shoes when we're together.
What’s
more important to you, to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
To be original, for sure, because we think
that if we are original we deliver the best possible story to Readers.
What
do you love about this story?
We love the ultimate connectedness of plot lines and character arcs in the end. Truthfully, we had the most difficulty connecting all the dots as we worked through the plot outline process. But through the shared, global experience of the main characters in the story with humanity, everyone connects to God, love itself.
Comments