Smiling Book Reviews: Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: A Twist of Faith by Pepper D. Basham

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: A Twist of Faith by Pepper D. Basham

~Be sure to check out the GIVEAWAY below.~

Series: Mitchell's Crossroads Series
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
Publication Date: April 6, 2016
Number of pages: 308

A witty, sweet romance with memorable, honest charactersLove does not have an accent ...

Dr. Adelina Roseland has worked ten years in research as an accent reduction specialist to attain her dream job. But a secret wager to transform Appalachian cattle farmer Reese Mitchell into corporate material challenges Adelina in ways she never expected, threatening her new position.

For one, Adelina didn't plan for the faith and friction of Reese, or the unexpected influence of his chaotic family. Now, drawn into a culture she'd tried to forget,

Adelina finds the warmth of family, the hope of faith, and the joy of love melting away the deep wounds of her past.

But when Reese discovers that he's a pawn in her climb up the academic ladder, will he forgive Adelina s deceit or will their miscommunication end in two broken lives?

Available to purchase on
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A Twist of Faith by Pepper D. Basham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another awesome book by Pepper D. Basham! She's such a good writer that you can feel the depth of each person's emotions. It takes your breath away! :)

I loved the journey to faith that Dee takes in this story. As with her other books, Pepper takes you deep. Deep into the feelings of failure and guilt, of not being good enough, of being so wounded, angry and closed off. And then she leads you deep into the awareness of God's grace, forgiveness, unconditional love, and hope for a new life.

Aside from the wonderful God moments, there is also plenty to laugh about and lots of sizzle between Dee and Reese! :D I died laughing at this part which happens very early in the book - "Reese slammed more pieces of wood into the pile, positioned a few in the grate, and pulled a lighter from it's place near the hearth. "Want me to light your fire tonight?" She turned from the casserole so fast he thought she might fall over. "Excuse me?" When Reese replayed the question in his mind, he was pretty sure he'd already started the fire-on his face. "I mean, do you want me to heat things up in here for you." Her eyes grew wider. His face got hotter. "Let me fix you up a fire." He pointed to the fireplace to rule out any doubt. "Right here. In the fireplace"." LOL :D

Reese's family is also a huge part of the story and I loved them! They are very integral to the softening, healing, and changing that Dee makes in the story. As well as helping Reese to see the things that he's still holding onto from his past.

I really enjoyed this take on the "My Fair Lady/Pygmalion" story. Coming from a city girl that transplanted to the south many years ago, I could appreciate how the differences in dialect could sound so rough to Dee's ears. But Dee is quickly drawn to the warmth of this Appalachian family and after awhile it just sounds like home.

Please don't miss out on this book! You'll laugh, cry, sigh, swoon, get frustrated, feel loved, hopeful and so much more. In other words you'll find yourself heart deep in this story!

*Thanks to SLBTours for a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions stated are my own.*

View all my reviews

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of 5 great kids, speech-pathologist to about fifty more, lover of chocolate, jazz, and Jesus, and proud AlleyCat over at a group writing blog, The Writer’s Alley. Her debut historical romance novel, The Thorn Bearer, released in May 2015, with the second arriving in February 2016. Her first contemporary romance debuts in April 2016.

Interview via SLB Tours

1. What was the hardest part of wring A Twist of Faith? The easiest?
Finding time to write. :) For me the HARDEST part of writing is creating chapters 3-7, kind of the transition part – but the characters and setting really became the gold in this story world.

2. What kind of research did you do for this book?
Well, I asked my good friend who is a cattle farmer for some solid information on calf birthing and basic farming. Those were some FUN conversations and he’s such a great guy! (Thanks, Buford)

3. Do you have a music playlist that you listened to while writing this novel? What songs were on this playlist?
Oh yes! I love having songs go along with stories. One of the main ones is When Love Takes you In by Steven Curtis Chapman– a song that really has the heart of Adelina’s journey. Also, I Believe by Holly Starr. I also wrote a song to go along with this particular novel (and books 2 and 3 in this series) I also listen to bluegrass.

4. What is the background story behind A Twist of Faith?
I am a big fan of the movie My Fair Lady, which fits really well with my profession as a speech-language pathologist, so this story came about as a combination of my two professions  And placing it in the Blue Ridge Mountains was a bonus for me because I LOVE my Appalachian culture.

5. Along with being an author, you are a speech-language-pathologist. Can you tell us more about your
career and experience with this?
My profession of speech-language pathologist covers lots of different things – not just kids who have difficulty saying their speech sounds. It includes comprehension of words, use of words, and creation of words. It also includes working with adults who’ve had strokes or brain injuries, as well as accent modification. My particular specialty is working with kids on the Autism Spectrum, but I’ve worked with almost everything in the speech-language disorder realm except swallowing. I’m not a fan of working with swallowing/trach disorders. :)