Today, I’m welcoming Marshalee Patterson to the blog to share about her upcoming release – Life’s Journey our Greatest Test, a contemporary Christian novel. I haven’t read it yet, but the excerpt makes me curious!
About the Book
When Brady lost his brother, John, he felt his entire world crumble. All their plans went up in smoke, and soon his life took a turn for the worst; one he had not seen coming.
When his uncontrollable rage landed him in the Lexington Prison, he lost all will to live. However, his grandmother Ruth, being the devoted Christian woman that she was, never gave up on him and kept praying for him.
Walking around town shortly after his release from Lexington, Brady was pleasantly surprised when he stumbled upon Sara in a partially burnt abandoned building. Thinking that being a good Samaritan to her, could help him make right with God for all the wrong he had done in his life, he later discovered Sara was more of a blessing to his tortured life than he was to her.
Will this unlikely union bring them peace and seeing God’s promises fulfilled in their lives?
Links to Buy
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3pnRrkN
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3wkVlgU
Excerpt
Chills ran along his spine as he ambled along the corridor of the factory’s second floor. Ghastly whispers now filled his ears, with nothing in sight to connect to the strange sounds. Brady wondered if the ghosts of his past had returned to rob him of the new beginning he so longed for.
As he continued walking, the urge to turn back shot through him, but his legs would not cooperate with his brain. He froze at the sound of a terrible cough that echoed across the hallway. His heart pounded hard in his chest, and his breathing intensified as he tried to distinguish whether it was human. His eyes darted from left to right, trying to figure out from which room the sound emanated.
Snap out of it! How can you be fearful, for a man who isn’t afraid of anyone and even once didn’t care about anything? Even worse, you now call yourself a born-again Christian, and you are letting fear grip you. Get a hold of yourself! Remember, God’s word says: he does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, he internalized, trying to encourage himself.
Brady shook himself and focused on where the sound resonated the loudest. He stepped into the second room to his right. From where he stood, papers and foliage scattered across the empty room. Sunlight permeated into the room from what remained of a burnt-out medium-sized window.
A slight movement among a bundle of papers at the far end corner of the room caught his attention. He gasped when he saw the figure of a person. With slow, careful steps, he moved forward, curious to see what manner of person would hide away in such a place like this. His eyes dilated when those of a frightened young woman stared back at him.
“Hey, . . . I’m not going to hurt you,” Brady told her in a gentle voice. Her gaze remained fixated on him, watching his every movement while she clung to the wall like a security blanket. Brady stooped down, facing her, maintaining eye contact with her. He empathized with her, knowing what he himself had gone through. He wanted to help her—but would she let him?
This may be my opportunity to do something good for someone, to prove to God that I am worthy of the second chance I so craved, he thought.
“Please . . . I know I don’t know you, but please let me help you somehow. I know what being homeless is like, hiding away from the world. But the dangers of living on the streets landed me in prison, from where I came only a few days ago. I’m trying to start over, and, even now, I’m still having a hard time getting over the pain I’ve caused my family.” He choked on his words. He didn’t know why he shared that with this stranger but felt opening up would allow her to see she was not alone in suffering hardships. He hoped it would allow her to at least give him a chance to help her.
About the Author
When Marshalee Patterson left high school and started working, she thought she was cursed. She would look at her life and compare it with some of her high school friends who seemed to be achieving the things she wanted. That is—marriage and kids. That desire led her to seek things her own way and not wait on God and it resulted in many shameful and painful experiences that she hid from everyone. She struggled to forgive herself and to also embrace God’s mercy, thinking she wasn’t deserving because of her weakness to the flesh. She felt cheap and not good enough.
Years later God revealed his plan for her life and it was to write books; books that would bring healing and deliverance to people’s lives. Each book she wrote she realized had a theme and that they were drawing from her own past experiences- the same past she wanted to stay hidden and buried. But as she wrote each book she saw herself healing from whatever trauma mentioned in that book. It was then that she realized, as shameful and painful as her past was, that God had a plan for it. They were the blueprint for her stories, experiences readers can relate to and the process through which God carried her to find healing and deliverance was how her readers would as well.
Marshalee Patterson is a Christian Fiction Author of life-changing books that have spiritual warfare and romance. Her goal is to see her readers gain the advantage of how to be victorious against Satan’s tactics and exposes some of the devices he uses.
She is a lover of nature and its tranquillity. She finds nature refreshing and peaceful. She loves different cultures, especially Spanish, which she feels make us learn to appreciate ours a little more in areas where we have been ungrateful or unappreciative. She loves salsa music very much and dances it well too. She is a proud Jamaican.
Connect with Marshalee
Website: https://bit.ly/3P6FlaI
Facebook Page: https://bit.ly/3QGOpDK
Add to GoodReads: https://bit.ly/3wjJhfM
Add to Bookbub: https://bit.ly/3dlrVtw
Pinterest: https://bit.ly/3C5xpTwv
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3A0EuSD
Blog Stops
August 22 – Beauty in the Binding https://moments-of-beauty.blogspot.com
August 23 – Emily Kopf https://emily-kopf.com
August 25 – Reading is my super power http://readingismysuperpower.org
August 27 – Lock, Hooks and Books https://www.amybooksy.blogspot.com
August 28 – Marshalee Patterson https://marshaleepatterson1.wixsite.com/christianbooks/blog/categories/book-updates
August 30 – Felix Felicitated https://felixfelicitatedblog.wordpress.com
August 31 – Wall to wall Books https://wall-to-wall-books.blogspot.com/
September 1- Britt Reads Fiction https://brittreadsfiction.wordpress.com
September 2 – Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama
https://www.musingsofasassybookishmama.com
September 3 – Cats in the Cradle Blog https://catsinthecradle.blog
September 4 – Batya’s Bits https://batyasbits.home.blog)
Emily Kopf 