Review of New Release: What's the Story, Morning Glory by Julie Lessman

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for What's the Story, Morning Glory? by Julie Lessman, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: What's the Story, Morning Glory?
Author: Julie Lessman
Publisher: Julie Lessman LLC
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Memoir Devotional (half fiction/half nonfiction)

“DEAR LORD, JULIE ... OUR WHOLE LIFE IS IN THIS BOOK!" 

My heart went out to my sweet husband as he walked into our kitchen one day with a noticeable gulp, ashen-faced after reading my latest novel.“Yes, I know, babe,” I said with a repentant smile and a conciliatory hug, “but nobody really knows that.” 
Ahem. Until now ... 

Trust me, "What’s the Story, Morning Glory? A Memoir Devotional with a 'Novel' Approach to Practical Christianity" is not a book I wanted to write. As a novelist, I have never been partial to nonfiction, either reading it or writing it, but I had little choice when God convinced me otherwise through a number of point-blank arm-twistings I couldn’t deny and not-so-gentle proddings from family and friends. 

Despite all the encouragement, I wasn’t really sure where to begin. “It will be fiction and nonfiction combined,” the Holy Spirit whispered within, and just like that, the idea for this book took flight. First, I would tell my “real” and very personal story behind the life-lesson stories in my novels, then I would follow it up with the excerpt from my books where I teach that same life lesson to my characters, finally culminating in corresponding Scriptures, a bulleted “Takeaway” list, and a related prayer. 

Thus, What’s the Story, Morning Glory: A Memoir Devotional with a “Novel” Approach to Practical Christianity was born. A memoir devotional that when combined with scenes from my novels, becomes a “novotional” where I relate the life lessons God personally taught me through His Word. I am simply a child of God who applied these lessons and Biblical precepts to every situation in my life and consequently, saw nonstop answers to prayer and blessings galore. It is my profound hope and prayer that through my own very simple and personal stories and examples, I can do the same for others. Therefore, the format for each chapter of this book will be as

1. The Real Story (How I learned and applied the spiritual lesson in my own life)
2. The Novel Story (The scene where I teach the spiritual lesson to my characters)
3. The Scripture Story (Scriptures applicable to the spiritual lesson)
4. The Takeaway Story (Bulletized points for spiritual lesson in easy-to-read/apply format)
5. The Prayer Story (Specific prayer related to the spiritual lesson)

I pray this bottom-line, albeit somewhat quirky, 1-2-3 devotional blesses you as much as God's spiritual life lessons have blessed me! 

Hugs,
Julie Lessman  

EXCERPT

“But to you who are listening I say: ‘Love your enemies,

do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.’”

~ Luke 6:27-28 NIV

Chapter Six

From Hurt to Healed: The Footpath to Forgiveness

1.) The Real Story:

“Are you out of your ever-loving mind??!!”

Yep, that’s pretty close to what I said to my spiritual mentor, Joy—give or take a few more

colorful words—when she said I needed to forgive my father and restore the relationship.

Forgive my father? The man who beat me with his belt, his shoe, and a cat-of-nine-tails until

I peed on the floor? Called me an “angle-shooter” and reinforced my womanhood by telling me,

“don’t think you’re anything special—any whore can get them excited.”

The same father I hadn’t seen for two years, since the night my little sister Katie and I ran

away after he’d screamed and forced me to make his bed at 10:30 p.m.? I’d made the mistake of

giving him a dirty look while I did so, and you didn’t do that with Daddy. He raised a fist to hit

me and I reared back to fend him off with a kick to his stomach, calling him a very foul name

before Katie and I finally fled into the night.

Forgive that father?

Yeah, I don’t think so. Unfortunately for me at the time, God did think so, mandating that

very thing as the first mission I was to accomplish as a brand-new, twenty-three-year-old

Christian.

A grunt popped from my lips. Yeah, sure—Mission Impossible!

Only it wasn’t. My spiritual mentor, Joy, implied it was as easy as 1-2-3, and I already told

you how I am a black-and-white, bottom-line, 1-2-3 type of person.  So, I begrudgingly agreed to

try, implementing the following steps:

1.) Forgive my father (or if I couldn’t do that, pray that God would bring me to the point

where I could forgive him and give me the grace to do it).

2.) Pray for my father, that God would bless him and give me favor with him.

3.) Put feet to my faith (yeah, yeah, I know, but you better get used to hearing this phrase

because it’s a crucial part of success in becoming who God wants us to be).

The first two points weren’t too difficult because honestly? I was at a place in my life that if

God said, “Jump,” I would ask, “How high?” I was so tired of being miserable, I just wanted to

be set free from all the hate and bitterness inside.

But, yikes, that #3? It was a real killer because the last thing I wanted to do was to face my

estranged father after avoiding him for two years.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon

Also Available

     

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About the Author

Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” underscores her intense passion for both God and romance. A lover of all things Irish, she enjoys writing close-knit Irish family sagas that evolve into 3-D love stories: the hero, the heroine, and the God that brings them together.

Author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, Heart of San Francisco, Isle of Hope, Silver Lining Ranch, and The Cousins O’Connor series, Julie was American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Debut Author of the Year and has garnered over 21 Romance Writers of America and other awards. Voted #1 Romance Author in Family Fiction magazine’s 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards, Julie’s novels also made Family Fiction magazine’s Best of 2014, Best of 2015, and “Essential Christian Romance Authors” 2017-20, as well as Booklist’s 2010 Top 10 Inspirational Fiction and Borders Best Fiction. Her independent novel A Light in the Window was an International Digital Awards winner, a 2013 Readers' Crown Award winner, and a 2013 Book Buyers Best Award winner. 

Julie has also written a self-help workbook for writers entitled Romance-ology 101: Writing Romantic Tension for the Sweet and Inspirational Markets.

Connect with Julie by visiting julielessman.com to follow her on social media, read both romantic and spiritual excerpts from her books, or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

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My Review

At first, I had a hard time getting used to the layout of partial devotional book and part memoir. It was a little different than expected, but after reading a chapter or two, I became used to the style and enjoyed it.

The scripture verses are comforting as they address different topics and gave me examples of God's word under a specific topic. It answered the questions about what God said about it. Each section of the chapter is broken down into different sections, (1) The Real Story (2) The Novel Story (3) The Scripture Story (4) The Takeaway Story (5) The Prayer Story.

The book comes with many insightful messages, prayers, and applicable scriptures. It would be a wonderful reference book to refer to again and would be a great addition to your library.

I received a complimentary copy from the author; a positive review is not required. All opinions are my own.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card, a character named after you in Julie's next book & a signed paperback copy of that book, plus a signed paperback copy of What's the Story, Morning Glory!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 24, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 1, 2024. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only for print copies. Gift card open to all locales. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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