About the Book
Book: Relentless Love
Author: Heather Greer
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Without passion, there is no love. Without love, is she even living?
Living with limits protects a heart from hurt. After unexpectedly losing her husband, it’s a lesson Katie Blake has learned well. From moving in with her elderly father to staying at home with her son, Sammy, Katie’s life has been arranged to avoid further pain.
After three years, life feels stagnant. It’s time to carefully venture into the world once again. Sammy needs friends his age, and Katie needs a project to focus on.
As Sammy adjusts to preschool, Katie finds her perfect job. Her position even allows her to befriend Anna, a young mother who needs encouragement. Events also bring Nathan Phillips, a childhood friend, back into her life. Each successful step forward encourages Katie to continue opening her heart. By the time her friendship with Nathan begins to deepen, Katie is ready to pursue the relationship.
Nathan’s encouragement gives Katie strength to make tough decisions regarding her father’s care as his dementia progresses. But when Sammy is injured while in Nathan’s care, Katie knows she’s made a mistake. It won’t happen again. Abandoning their relationship in favor of safety is only the beginning. Katie has felt God calling her to help change Anna’s situation, but the risk is too great. God will have to find another way to help.
It takes a strange message from her father for Katie to understand God’s relentless love and desire for her life to reflect His love. But will Katie take the risk or continue limiting love in favor of a life without hurt?
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Heather Greer is a pastor’s kid and pastor’s wife from southern Illinois. Though her nest is quickly approaching the empty stage, with three of her four children out on their own, she enjoys the times she gets to spend with all her children, husband, and grandson. Equal mix geek and romantic, you could as easily find Heather watching an episode of Doctor Who as the latest Hallmark movie. Of course, you may find her baking, reading, or crafting too!
Heather’s writing and teaching ministries revolve around a passion to see believers grow in their faith. Though God has used her most often with teens and adults, she has worked in ministries reaching all age groups through the years. It is Heather’s prayer for God to use what she writes in her books and on her blog to challenge and encourage readers in their faith walks.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Q: Why did you decide to pursue a career as an author?
A: I have always been a reader. I love being drawn into the worlds the authors create and feeling like I am part of the cast of characters on the page. You know they’re not real, but for the time you immerse yourself into the story, they might as well be. You hurt, celebrate, and grow right alongside them. That’s amazing to me, and I always wanted to do that for others the way my favorite authors have done it for me. And being a person of faith, I knew I wanted to honor God and encourage others in their own faith through what I write. That desire is what led me to write Christian fiction.
Q: When you are writing, what does your daily schedule look like?
A: I wish I had one! In the next year, I hope I can write full-time and develop a more defined writing schedule. For now, I am a full-time receptionist at a doctor’s office. I write in the evenings and on the weekends. When I’m on a deadline, that might mean I come home with dinner from a takeout bag, change into comfy clothes, and lock myself in my office until time for bed. With limited time, keeping up with my writing, blogging, and marketing becomes a juggling act. Too bad I never learned to juggle! So, I do the best I can and try to focus on the most important thing to accomplish for each day before working my way down the list.
Q: When writing a book of fiction, what kind of research do you normally have to do?
A: It depends on the book. This series was set in my hometown. I know the people and the area. I did have to ask my cousin who trains horses for some basic information on horses and horse training. Other times, I’ve had to research houses in different areas. Online realtors are a wonderful tool for that type of research. You can even take virtual tours through the houses. That makes it easier to create a detailed image of the setting. Right now, I’m working on a historical fiction set in the 1920s in Harrisburg, Illinois. You don’t realize how much you don’t know until you start writing historical fiction!
Q: How do you insert the faith element into these stories so that it is woven naturally into the storyline?
A: I think our faith should be woven into our lives. So, to write true to life characters of faith, it has to be woven into theirs too. I was raised in a home where faith wasn’t discussed in vague terms or on church days only. Your relationship with God was present in every area of life, shaping your decisions and how you went about the business of living. Sometimes living your faith is easy. Other times, not so much. It was hardest to weave it into the fabric of the story without drawing attention to it in Faith’s Journey because at that point, Katie had walked away from God. He had to get her attention and draw her back to Him. After her faith was restored, it became much easier to have her faith worked into every decision and conversation.
Q: Do you have aspirations of your book being turned into a film or TV series? Why or why not?
A: It would be amazing to see my books on the screen, big or little. When Faith’s Journey came out, people commented that it would be a great Hallmark movie. I think their opinions changed just a bit after reading Grasping Hope! Katie really did have to learn how to hang on to God in the storm in that one. But I hope as they read the conclusion to Katie’s story in Relentless Love, they find the end is worthy of everything Katie experienced. Her story may not have ended up as an overly sweet, perfect from beginning to end, wrapped up with a beautiful bow, Hallmark-type story, but I pray it reaches readers where they are and reminds them how much God loves them even in the middle of this mess we call life. And if someone wants to make a movie like that, I’d love to hear from them!
More from Heather
Authors leave a bit of themselves on the pages of what they write. Whether it comes out in a name or character’s special interest or a faith lesson the author had to learn themselves before they could put in on paper, somewhere in what is written readers will find a hint of the author in the story. This glimpse into the author’s world add a feeling of authenticity to the story.
My family and friends will quickly recognize at least one of these windows into my world as they read Relentless Love. Though I didn’t intend it, my personal experiences with dementia and Alzheimer’s care are woven into the story. While the exact details are different, I was a full-time caregiver to my grandmother through the middle and late stages of her life with dementia. Dealing with the confusion, illogical thinking, obsessing, and paranoia that are portrayed in the story is part of everyday life for a caregiver.
In including Katie’s experience with her father’s deteriorating mental health, I pray others facing the same struggle find encouragement and strength. And because my time with my grandma was blessed with sweet memories, in spite of the struggles, I’d like to share a recipe she passed down to me in high school. I cannot make this cookie without thinking of the one who made it first and all the lessons she taught me about what it means to love God, our families, and others.
Lace Cookies – from the kitchen of Sue Ellen Forby
Ingredients:
1 cup oats 3Tbs. flour
¼ tsp. salt 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar 1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. baking powder 1 egg
Directions: Mix oats, salt, sugar, baking powder, and flour. Melt butter and pour over dry ingredients. Add vanilla and egg. Mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour, until set.
Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into marble sized balls and place at least 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Edges of cookies will be golden brown. Remove from oven and carefully slide parchment from pan to let cookies cool completely before removing them from paper. These cookies puff during cooking but flatten out completely as they cool.
Blog Stops
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 2
Andrea Christenson, June 3 (Author Interview)
For the Love of Literature, June 4
Rebecca Tews, June 5
Batya’s Bits, June 6
My Devotional Thoughts, June 7 (Author Interview)
Writing from the Heart Land, June 7
For Him and My Family, June 8
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 9
By The Book, June 10 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, June 11
Quiet Quilter, June 12
Artistic Nobody, June 13 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Inklings and notions, June 14
deb’s Book Review, June 15
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Heather is giving away the grand prize of $30 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/fccd/relentless-love-celebration-tour-giveaway
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7 Comments
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Love the cover of this! Congrats, Heather!
Cynthia Roemer recently posted…FOR THE HEART ~ Seeds of Hope
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I enjoyed reading the interview questions and answers, thanks for sharing
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This sounds like a great story!
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Fun covers! Sounds like an excellent read. Thank you for hosting.
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Sounds like my kind of book.
Marilyn -
Sounds like a good book.
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This book sounds like a great read.
