COTT's Spotlight on “A Plain Disappearance" by Amanda Flower

Clash of the Titles is so excited to check in with Amanda Flower, one of the founding members of the COTT Family. From the looks of things, she has some pretty exciting things going on!

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USA Today recently hailed award-nominated author Amanda Flower for A Plain Death, calling it, “The first Amish rom-com . . . bring on the next one!” As the enthusiastic reviews continue to mount, she’s back with her third Appleseed Creek mystery, A Plain Disappearance.

{ABOUT THE BOOK}

It’s Christmastime in Amish Country, and Chloe Humphrey has begun settling into her life in Appleseed Creek excited to see where her new relationship with Timothy Troyer will lead. Unfortunately it leads to murder when the couple discovers the body of Amish teenager Katie Lambright while on their first date. Near the scene there is evidence that Timothy’s friend and auto mechanic Billy Thorpe is involved with the crime. The police reveal Billy is not really who he said he was and has been living the last decade in Knox County under a stolen alias. Now, Chloe and Timothy must find Billy, bring him to justice, or prove his innocence.

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{ABOUT THE AUTHOR}

Amanda Flower started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. Her debut mystery, Maid of Murder, was an Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel and the first in a series featuring amateur sleuth India Hayes. Like her main character, Amanda is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. Her next mystery, Murder in a Basket, was released in January 2012 from Five Star. In July 2012, her first Amish mystery, A Plain Death, was released from B&H. For Penguin/NAL she writes under the pen name Isabella Alan. Visit her online at www.amandaflower.com. 

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{REVIEW}

"The third installment of the outstanding Appleseed Creek series is a mystery with twists and turns and an unexpected ending that will keep readers up until the wee hours of the morning. Readers are reunited with characters from the first two books and will meet some new ones. Flower has hit it out of the ballpark with this series and continues to amaze with her knowledge of the Amish way of life." ~ 4.5 stars from Top Pick RT Book Reviews

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Be sure to check back with Clash of the Titles for all the latest in Christian Fiction!

A Look at “Living in Harmony" by Mary Ellis

The Clash of the Titles Blog Alliance is proud to share great August release with its readers. Ink still damp from the presses, Living in Harmony by Mary Ellis, currently sits on a store shelf near you! Want more good news? It’s the first in a series—perfect time to jump on board.

PURCHASE THE BOOK ON AMAZON

PURCHASE THE BOOK AT Barnes and Noble

{About the book}

Living in Harmony is the first book in bestselling author Mary Ellis’s New Beginnings series. It’s about fresh starts and love...and how faith in God and His perfect plan for our lives provides us with the peace and joy we desire.

Amy King—young, engaged, and Amish--faces difficult challenges in her life when she suddenly loses both of her parents in a house fire. Her fiancé, John Detweiler, persuades her and her sister Nora to leave Lancaster County and make a new beginning with him in Harmony, Maine, where he has relatives who can help the women in their time of need.

John’s brother Thomas and sister-in-law Sally readily open their home to the three newcomers. Wise beyond his years, Thomas, a minister in the district, refuses to marry Amy and John upon their arrival, suggesting instead a period of adjustment and counseling. During this time Amy discovers an aunt who was shunned. She wishes to reconnect with her, but this puts a strain on her relationship with John.

Can John and Amy find a way to live in happily in Harmony before making a lifetime commitment to one another?

For those addicted to Amish stories, you won’t want to miss this one. To everyone else, this might be the book that gets you hooked on this wildfire genre.

{What reviewer Rachel Brand of the Christian Manifesto has to say}

Just when you think nothing new and original can come out of the Amish genre, a book like this comes along and proves that you’re completely wrong.

It’s hard to express exactly what I loved so much about Living in Harmony. It’s not just the setting, the new community and the realistic secondary characters that made this novel so refreshing and unique. Mary Ellis crafted her hero and heroine as incredibly relate-able characters, flawed human beings who prove that even the Amish don’t have perfect relationships or marriages.

Each character had their own personality and purpose in the novel, which means that there’s bound to be at least one character that every reader can relate to.

If you need a little bit more realism in your Amish fiction, or just don’t want to read a happily-ever-after romance, then Living in Harmony is the book for you.

{About Mary Ellis}

Mary Ellis grew up near the Amish and fell in love with them. She has now written nine bestselling novels set in their communities. When not writing, she enjoys gardening, bicycling, and swimming. Before retiring to write full-time, Mary taught school and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate. Her debut Christian book, A Widow's Hope, was a finalist for the 2010 ACFW Carols and the Holt Medallion Award of Merit.

You can find Mary at these locations: www.maryellis.net
blog: www.maryeellis.wordpress.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mary-Ellis/126995058236