The Fragrance of Violets by Susan K Beatty Blog Tour and Giveaway

About the Book

Book: The Fragrance of Violets

Author: Susan K. Beatty

Genre: Christian Women’s Fiction

Release date: May 17, 2022

Life crushes us with its weight sometimes.

Fiona’s father abandoned her when she was twelve. So when she learns that he’s the groom’s father in the wedding she’s been assigned to manage, all the old hurts resurface. Maybe if he’d just explain himself and ask forgiveness, she’d get over the pain he left her with—pain she obviously hadn’t left behind after all.

When Nason discovered he wasn’t Fiona’s biological father, and when her mother tried to sabotage his marriage, he felt like he had no other option but to leave and never look back. Running into her again—awkward to say the least. And he can’t understand why she feels betrayed—why she expects him to seek forgiveness.

As if life weren’t complicated enough, Fiona meets Trevor, which sparks a possible romance. New faith, an overdose, and revelations combine with Trevor’s discipleship and shows her how forgiveness really works.

What will it take for Nason to swallow his pride and see how his actions hurt an innocent child?

The Fragrance of Violets—as Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

It is not so easy to forgive. Yet we Christians are to forgive others as we have been forgiven so much. Beatty explores that difficult path to willing forgiveness. There may be pain that needs to be dealt with or pride needing to be addressed. It can be a terribly hard task to forgive but with God's grace and the encouragement of friends, it can be done.

Beatty gives readers a very realistic situation where Christians struggle with the command to forgive others. Fiona and Nason are good examples of relatively new Christians who have been hurt by the deeds of others. Each must overcome their own obstacles to forgive. Those characters are presented well as are support characters. It was interesting to see the difference between the encouragement from fellow Christians and the harsh criticism from nonbelievers.

Beatty's writing style is good and this novel was a pleasure to read. I recommend it to readers who would appreciate a good exploration of people following God's command to forgive others.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author

Who says you can’t begin a new career after middle age? Certainly not Susan K. Beatty. She is passionate about writing about finding courage through faith and grit, particularly through the trials of breast cancer and other life trials. Her daughter is a metastatic breast cancer “thriver” and has been an inspiration for her writing. Susan’s first novel, Faces of Courage, debuted May 2021, as part of the Faces of Courage series, including several novelettes. She is also the author of An Introduction to Home Education (AKA California Homeschool Manual). Susan is a professional writer/journalist and is active in the writer community. She is proof you can begin a fiction writing career at any age.

More from Susan

The Fragrance of Violets’ story has yearned to be told for many years now—before I created my tagline, Courage: The Intersection of faith and grit. But it fits perfectly. A similar situation existed a long time ago in the life of an acquaintance. I thought all parties handled it badly, and I longed to make it right. Of course, being an outsider, the only way I could make it right was by creating a novel.

Fiona and Nason, the main characters, are total figments of my imagination, and the details of the story are substantially different. But the core, abandonment, the need to ask for and grant forgiveness, and the courage to meet them, is real and universal.

I desired to show that even when we think we’ve done nothing wrong, we need to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal where we need to own up to our mistakes and seek forgiveness. Also, I wanted to show that although it is difficult to forgive when we’ve been horribly wronged (and how horrible to have the person you thought of as your father abandon you and with no apparent explanation or remorse), it’s possible with courage. The courage that comes from faith and action.

My prayer is that Fiona and Nason (despite his past) will inspire readers to find their own courage through whatever situations in which they find themselves.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, June 21

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, June 22 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, June 23

Inklings and notions, June 24

A Baker’s Perspective, June 25 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, June 25

deb's Book Review, June 26

Spoken from the Heart, June 27 (Author Interview)

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, June 28

Because I said so -- and other adventures in Parenting, June 29

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 30

Through the Fire Blogs, July 1 (Author Interview)

Debbie's Dusty Deliberations, July 2

Locks, Hooks and Books, July 3

Splashes of Joy, July 4 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, July 4

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and copy of the book!!

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/1eff9/the-fragrance-of-violets-celebration-tour-giveaway

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)