WINGS OF A DREAM by Anne Mateer - Review and Giveaway

Please welcome my friend, Anne Mateer, today. I'm delighted with her first book and have shared my review at the end of this post. There you'll find a sweet surprise as well. 

 This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Wings of A Dream Bethany House (September 1, 2011) by Anne Mateer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

While I have been writing for what feels like my whole life, I began seriously studying the craft in 2000. Since then I have completed five novels, had several pieces published in local periodicals, attended six writing conferences and managed to final in ACFW's Genesis contest in 2006, 2008, and 2009. My first historical novel, Wings of a Dream, will be released in September 2011, with another historical novel to follow in 2012. But writing is only a piece of my life.

I am mostly just a woman trying to live her life in a manner pleasing to the Lord. That involves being a wife to Jeff and a mother to my three teenagers--neither role coming easily but both roles stretching me, requiring me to press in closer to Jesus. And because of this, Jesus has taken an insecure, fearful, sometimes angry girl and is turning her into a more trusting, peaceful, grace-filled woman. At least some of the time. There is still such a long way to go!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rebekah Hendricks dreams of a life far beyond her family's farm in Oklahoma, and when dashing aviator Arthur Samson promised adventure in the big city, she is quick to believe he's the man she's meant to marry. While she waits for the Great War to end and Arthur to return to her so they can pursue all their plans, her mother's sister falls ill. Rebekah seizes the opportunity to travel to Texas to care for Aunt Adabelle, seeing this chance to be closer to Arthur's training camp as God's approval of her plans.

But the Spanish flue epidemic changes everything. Faced with her aunt's death, Arthur's indecisiveness, and four children who have no one else to care for them, Rebekah is torn between the desire to escape the type of life she's always led and the unexpected love that just might change the dream of her heart.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Wings of A Dream, go HERE.

MY REVIEW: 

In Wings of a Dream, Rebekah Hendricks, a small-town Oklahoma girl, dreams of an adventurous life . . . and escaping from her controlling mother. When she’s called to Texas to care for an ailing aunt, she’s certain that God has granted her desire and that adventure is just around the corner. Set at the end of WWI against the backdrop of the Spanish flu epidemic, debut author Anne Mateer, gently guides the reader through one surprising twist after another. It reminded me of the old adage to be careful what you pray for . . . you just might get it.

Anne did a great job of keeping me guessing on which of the three possible heroes Rebekah would choose—the handsome pilot whose promises she wants to believe, the  sheriff who can’t stop “dropping in” for a visit, or the rather distant father of four children who need a mother. There’s a lot at stake in this book, and I think you’ll be swept away with this warm, engaging story. I know I was. 

Intrigued? Have you heard of the Spanish Flu? Please leave a comment with your contact information to be entered in a drawing for this book. I'll draw for the winner on Monday, Sept. 19. 

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher for my honest review. Void where prohibited. Chances of winning dependent on number of entries.