Robin Lee Hatcher's RETURN TO ME

You may have noticed that I've begun to feature other people's books on my blog. Well, why not? These are books by special friends, and I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't think you'd enjoy them.

Today's featured book is no exception. Robin Lee Hatcher and I go way back (to the days when both of us had different hair colors and styles), and I love and appreciate Robin's heart. I'm happy to feature her latest book today, RETURN TO ME, which releases this week.

Here's the official information:

Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. However, she's certain there are better plots and fewer calories in her books than in puffed rice and hamburgers.

The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, two RITA Awards for Best Inspirational Romance, and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 50 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home in Idaho, which she shares with Poppet the Papillon.

RETURN TO ME:

Discouraged and destitute, her dreams shattered, Roxy Burke is going home. But what lies beyond the front door? Rejection ... or a brighter future?

A lot has changed since Roxy escaped small town life to become a Nashville star. Her former boyfriend Wyatt has found Christ and plans to become a minister. Her sister Elena, who comforted Wyatt when Roxy ran away, is now his fiancee. Her father Jonathan, a successful businessman, is heartbroken over the estrangement of Roxy from the family.

Now Roxy—her inheritance from her grandmother squandered, her hopes of stardom dashed—finds her way home ... not by choice but because it's her only option. Her father's love and forgiveness surprise her, but her very presence throws the contented Burke family into turmoil, filling Roxy with guilt and shame.

Elena is shocked to discover doubt and resentment in her heart after her father's easy acceptance of Roxy into the family circle. Wyatt wrestles with doubts about marrying Elena. And Roxy struggles to accept forgiveness. Isn't she more deserving of rejection? As the story of the prodigal plays out, each member of the Burke family must search for and accept God's grace.

An Interview with Robin Lee:

SO, ROBIN, DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE A WRITER?

No, I didn't, although I loved books and stories even before I could read. In fact, I went to my first day of first grade with only one goal in mind — learn to read. When they didn't teach me how that very first day, I told my mom there was no point in going back. Fortunately, my mom knew who was boss, and I did go back to school.

When I was young, what I wanted to be most in all the world was a movie star. My closest friends all nod their heads, I'm sure, when I say this, knowing my theatrical nature. I took ballet for seven years, and I was in various theater productions, both in school and as a young adult.

My storytelling career began in grade school when I told my fifth grade friends that my mother was born in a covered wagon while coming west on the Oregon Trail. It seemed plausible. My mother was, after all, 47 years old at the time. My word! Had they even invented the wheel when she was born? [Sorry, Mom.]

Fast forward to high school. I was a compulsive writer, scribbling stories and poetry in notebooks and on binders. This wasn't work. This was fun! Writing could transport me to any place, any time. How cool. I also was a lover of horses and spent many years riding and competing and raising them.

Marriage and family filled the next decade. I read voraciously. I daydreamed. In my mind, I reworked the endings of both movies and books any time they didn't suit me. I performed with a Christian theater troupe. We raised a few horses. Then I got an idea for a story, a Gone With The Wind type saga. I talked about it with others for about six months. Finally, I sat down and began to write. I wrote long hand on yellow legal pads and typed the pages on the office Selectric typewriter during lunch hours and coffee breaks. Nine months later, I had a book, and two years after that, it was published.

The rest, as they say, is history. These days, the nest is empty. My daughters are grown with families of their own, and I am the ridiculously young grandmother of six. My mother (past her 93rd birthday — who was not born in a covered wagon) lives with me, as does Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon.

*****

I can certainly relate to the high-maintenance dog! Cheerio for now,
~~Angie