Bookiversary & Giveaway

by | Feb 25, 2019 | Fiction Book Reviews | 33 comments

I don’t know about other authors, but I have favorite couples in my books.

FAVORITES! (plural…so maybe that’s not quite as amazing as only ONE favorite)

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And I LOVE rereading certain elements of my stories, especially when it comes to a few characters that make the top of my list.

So I was disappointed in myself when I allowed one of my FAVORITE couples to get forgotten beneath the crazy of a new book release.

Seriously! What kind of ‘mama’ author am I? Forgetting my children like that!

Today, we are celebrating one of my favorite couples: David and Catherine from The Thorn Keeper.

The Thorn Keeper came out on Feb 6, 2016, and was the first time I wrote a bad-girl-turned-good. Something about Catherine Dougall has held my heart ever since.

The “story” behind Catherine’s story is one of my favorites. You see, she was never meant to turn good. I hadn’t planned on redeeming her. She was going to go the way of the villainesses of the world and suffer the consequences of her actions in the most lost of ways.

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But then…my heart wouldn’t let me do that.

I had finished writing book 1, with Catherine losing everything, and a still small voice in my heart ushered a statement that changed the course of Catherine’s fictional future.

I want her.

As the request solidified in my creativity, Catherine’s story of redemption began to unfold and it has ALWAYS held a very special place for me because it reminds me of what Christ has done for me.

He wanted me.

So he called me by name and made me his – despite all of my mistakes, blunder, blindness, and sin.

I wasn’t a lost cause.

12744436_10208702654104439_2557887789893383061_n.jpgAnd Catherine became an example of that change.

She’s still uniquely Catherine, but…she’s a redeemed Catherine and it was a delight to watch her step from the woman she’d been to the one God had created her to be.

Add the charming, unassuming, introverted, and tenderhearted Dr. David Ross – and the sweetness, romance, and adventure takes on a shinier hue.

Their story makes me smile and it’s one I LOVE to reread.

Yes, I reread my own stories sometimes. Or at least certain scenes.

Is there a particular bad-guy/girl-turned good that you’ve read and really fell in love with?

Copy of The Thorn Keeper

Giveaway open 2/25/19 – 3/3/19 11:59pm EST. To enter, comment on this blog post. Open internationally. Void where prohibited. One (1) winner will receive an eBook copy of The Thorn Keeper, provided by Pepper Basham.

Pepper

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33 Comments

  1. Karen Klepsteen

    I adore Ty and Celia in Meant to be Mine by Becky Wade! Ty had some serious growing up to do, and I fell for him throughout the story! Meant to be Mine was my first Becky Wade book, and I’ve been hooked ever since!

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Oh my goodness, Karen!!! Meant to be Mine is my FAVORITE Becky Wade book! #teamty 😉

      Reply
  2. Phyllis

    Happy bookaversary! The Thorn Keeper series is one of yours I haven’t read yet. I think the only one. I need to remedy that. 🙂

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Phyllis, it was my FIRST book series, and I’ve grown (I hope) since writing it – but I still love so many things about it.

      Reply
  3. Carolyn Hiatt

    I am new to your page and new to your books. So I would love to read about your favorite couple. Not sure I have one favorite couple other than my husband and I😀

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Welcome, Carolyn! I’d say having you and your hubs as a favorite couple is awesome!! Real-life romance, right? 🙂

      Reply
    • Carol Alscheff

      I haven’t had the pleasure of reading one of your books yet. This sounds like it would be a good one to start with. Thanks for the chance to win.

      Reply
  4. Toni

    I adore David and Catherine. Catherine is probably one of my favorite historical heroines ever!

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      #daymade Toni! I love her change and yet…how she stays the same in so many ways too!!

      Reply
  5. Sarita

    I would love to read the Thorn Keeper. I only discovered you this year when I’ve read “My heart belongs in Blue Ridge”, so I have a lot of your books to catch up on 🙂

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Hi Sarita!!! Welcome!! Well, this one is a teensy bit spicier than My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge, but it’s SUCH a fun story!!! And it has much more of an English-flair than my Appalachian book, but the couple are super cute together!

      Reply
  6. Jessica S

    I am not sure it is possible for me to pick a favorite literary couple… I have loved watching older generation couples in my own family and in my church, and I so want my marriage with my husband to mirror the steadfast Christ-centered relationships that those older couples have.

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Beautiful, Jessica!

      Reply
  7. Rachael de Klerk

    I really liked Georgina Hawthorne from Kristi Ann Hunter’s An Elegant Façad. She was sort of a villain in the previous books of the series so I didn’t think I’d like her, but by the end of the book, I found myself wishing I didn’t have to say goodbye. And don’t even get me started on Colin. What a great hero😍😆! They’re definitely one of my favorite couples!

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Oh boy! I LOVE great heroes!!!

      Reply
  8. Kathy

    I’m always on the lookout for a new book! Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply
  9. Lori Smanski

    Happy Bookiversary, thanks for the wonderful give a way. Oh my this sounds wonderful. When I was in high school, I read the series, The Sacketts by Louis Lamore. I remember one of the brothers was a bad boy but became a good boy. Oh goodness, now I am going to have to go back and read why and how. LOL. I really enjoy reading how authors write their books. Thanks for sharing with us about this book.

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Thanks, Lori. Those redeemed rogues are some of my favorites 🙂

      Reply
  10. Sadie VanderKodde

    I loooooved this book. It’s definitely one of my favorites of yours, but I’ve only read a library copy, so I’d love to have one of my own. Another of my favorite book couples is Shiloh Irons and Cheney Duvall from Gilbert and Lynn Morris’s Cheney Duvall series. It took 8 books for them to finally get together, but the slow burn is so worth it!

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Oooh, that series sounds really good, Sadie!

      Reply
  11. Michelle Lunsford

    Love, love, LOVE Catherine and David, and for some of the very reasons you listed above. Thanks for sharing more about how their story came to be. Something about your confession of being moved to offer Catherine her second chance makes her fictional life all the more beautiful to me. The scene of Catherine’s redemption is one of my all time favorites among all the great things you’ve written. I very much enjoy re-reading about her and David.

    Reply
    • pepperbasham

      Doesn’t the story behind her conversion make SUCH a difference??? I think that’s also why I love her more! And I love the both of them so much together! They make each other their bests 🙂

      Reply
  12. Joan Arning

    I need to reread your earlier books! I remember that I liked them but not the details! I can’t think of a particular bad girl turned good!

    Reply
  13. Rachael Merritt

    I love your Catherine’s and I love Vance Everstones….the two that come to mind first…great redemption stories.

    Reply
  14. Debbie Clatterbuck

    My favorite couple is Matthew and Adelaide from Destroyed & Restored: The Baron’s Courageous Wife by Bree Wolf. Matthew was so gentle and loving with Adelaide I just couldn’t help falling for him. Every man should take lessons from Matthew. Thanks for the giveaway and good luck everyone.

    Reply
  15. joyofreadingweb

    This is one of my favorite fictional couples! I loved this story! I don’t need an entry in the giveaway, as I have both a digital and a special autographed print copy, but I did want to drop by and wish a happy book birthday to The Thorn Keeper! <3

    Reply
  16. Megan L.

    This story sounds so good! I love your books! I think one of my favorite couples this year is from Tamera Alexander’s With This Pledge. It wasn’t a bad girl gone good, but their relationship was so great to read about.

    Reply
  17. PamCrist

    Catherine was beautiful and unrepentant, then became broken and redeemed. I still think about her. Of course, David is think-worthy, also!

    Reply
  18. miareadsblog

    Thanks for the opportunity and hurray for bookaversaries! <3

    Reply
  19. Cathy C

    Interesting question – one story that immediately comes to mind is Roseanna White’s A Name Unknown, along with the other books in that Shadows Over England series. By the way, I recently read your Laurel’s Dream and found it one of the better books I have read in the last year – a beautifully written story!

    Reply
  20. Jackie L

    I have not read this series, but totally want to!! I really love couples that grow together on their book.

    Reply
  21. Sherri Godfrey

    I couldn’t think of a particular bad boy/girl turned good until Cathy C mentioned Roseanna Whitte’s Shadows Over England series. All of those were fantastic. I haven’t read The Thorn Keeper but would love to. Thanks for the giveaway.

    Reply
  22. Mary Kay Moody

    Oh, Pepper, I love how you treasure your characters and, truth be told, some more than others!! As tired as I am (just finished writing my 2nd romance (wrapped in a cozy mystery–must talk with you!) I’m not able to pull a fictional couple from the brain. Like others, I kind of focused on my IRL hubby who asked me to print him off a copy of 2 of his favorite pages. Just the best redeemed bad boy encourager! I’m eager to read Catherine and David’s story as you did SUCH a good job making her a villainess. 🙂

    Reply

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