Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

New in Town & #Giveaway

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Do you have roots?

Maybe that’s a strange question to start a post with, but let me explain. I’ve never in my life lived anywhere more than six years, although I’m hoping that is going to change in the near future. So, technically, I don’t have roots. Nowhere to call “home.”

And here, once again, I’m starting in a new place, inching roots down into the dirt, learning to bloom where I’m planted. And, trust me, I’m thrilled to be planted here at InspyRomance. Honestly? I did a little fangirl dance when I was first offered the spot. Because so many of the authors who were already here were ones I enjoyed reading, but never considered myself to be par with.

Well, here I am, anyway. And I thought you might like to know a bit about me now that I’m going to be posting every month.

I’m Amy, and I write Christian Romance where the characters long for ‘home,’ learn love isn’t just a feeling, and find out happily ever after doesn’t always come where expected. At least, that’s what I aim to do.

I’m also a mom of a preschooler and kindergartner, a teacher’s wife, a preacher’s daughter, a sister, friend, preschool teacher, crafter, and a bit of a mess, honestly. I love cats, tea, books, and getting dirty with activities like gardening and painting.

Curious about my stories? I’m going to tell you.

My first book, An Unexpected Legacy, is about a Jessica and Chad. They meet at a smoothie shop and there are immediate sparks, but when the past cuts into their new relationship, things get shaky until they can uncover a situation that’s haunted Jessica’s aunt since college. And of course, there is talk of home there, too, as they find out their families grew up in the same town.

In Faith and Hope, two sisters are forced to spend a summer together even though they aren’t on great terms. Hope has lost her job, car, and boyfriend, and has no desire to live in Texas, despite the cute guy she meets there. After all, she’s built her home in Mississippi. And Faith has some struggles of her own to deal with. Between each figuring out her own relationship and working toward solving problems, they also learn the other is someone more amazing than they knew.

Saving Grace starts with a car wreck leaving Michelle with a broken wrist. The only other survivor is baby Grace, an orphan who wraps Michelle around her finger and has her determined to be Grace’s new mom. She moves back to her hometown, but it’s nothing like she expected, and her best friend Greg is giving her all sorts of interesting signals.

And my latest release, Writing Home, is about Chris and Jordan, who both think they’re living exactly where they wanted to. But as their relationship grows, they begin to question just what “home” means.

So, tell me, which one sounds most intriguing to you? And how deep do your roots run? Have you lived one place forever, or are you like me, and have learned to bloom where you’re planted? I’m thrilled to be planted here with you.

Today, since it’s my first post, I thought it would be fun to giveaway a copy of one of my books. So, leave a comment below and I’ll draw a winner next Saturday. US winner only, your choice of paperback or ebook.

Amy R Anguish (36 Posts)

Amy R Anguish grew up a preacher's kid, and in spite of having lived in seven different states that are all south of the Mason Dixon line, she is not a football fan. Currently, she resides in Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and son, and usually a bossy cat or two. Amy has an English degree from Freed-Hardeman University that she intends to use to glorify God, and she wants her stories to show that while Christians face real struggles, it can still work out for good.


Comments

  1. Hi, Amy! Welcome to the Inspy Romance family! All your stories sound like good reads. If I had to pick one, just based on the descriptions, I’d go with “An Unexpected Legacy”. I enjoy a taste of mystery along with the relationships as they grow.

    As for roots, I lived in the same place until I went off to school and then work. I met my wife when I moved for my job and it took us a couple years to figure out that we belonged together. Now, we’ll be celebrating 32 years in June. Yup, even in the same house. So I have roots. My roots have roots. I would have to say that I probably have roots in places where others don’t even have places. :)

  2. Hi Amy, I love the sound of Writing Home. How often in life do we end up with something different to our expectations, so often. I’m a combination of moving every few years growing up and then settling for 20 years, pros and cons with each. Looking forward to more of your posts. :)

  4. Welcome Amy. I love to see another cat lover. I lived 2 years in Victoria about 20 mins from the town I live in now then we moved to a farm in South Australia 10 mins north of the town for 6 years. then moved into the town when dad had a stroke. Live in that house for about 37 years and the current one about 12 years so I have been in the region for all my life. Went to school here etc. Its a small country town with around 6,000 people now.

  5. Welcome Amy to the Inspy Romance family. Tennessee and especially the Smokey Mountains is my favorite vacation spot for this retired English, German and Creative Writing teacher. By my 40th birthday I had moved 20 times – 2 countries, 2 states (lived on both sides of Lake Michigan) and 7 cities. Three times I moved within a year. In 1997 because of a house fire. We have lived in our current home for 21 years and our oldest son and 3 grandkids live only a few blocks from us. I am a retired pastor’s wife, mother of 3 sons and Oma to 4 grandchildren. SW Michigan has been the family home since the 1950s since my great uncle Otto lived here and my parents and I immigrated to the United States. Our family has had both dogs and cats. Now as a retirees we share a delightful Sheltie Ivy with our son.

    Your book, Writing Home, sounds intriguing because it brings back memories of waiting for letters from my German relatives. Also due to the Pandemic and my son’s divorce, my four year old granddaughter loves checking his mailbox for cards and packages from her beloved Oma. I have been keeping the postal service busy with weekly letters to family and friends. Best wishes and looking forward to your blogs. Enjoy the weekend.

  6. Welcome to my inbox. I have lived 67 years in the same city, celebrated 47 years of marriage this month, and we live in the only house we ever bought…44 years now.
    I love reading, Christian fiction is great, though Christian Suspense is my favorite.
    All your books sound like I would enjoy them 😁

  7. Welcome, Amy! I am thrilled to see you here…..I have been a fan of your from day one and have read all of your books! I highly recommend them to everyone here!

  10. Thanks so much, Lincoln! You do have roots! I can’t even imagine what’s that like, but am working on letting my kids have that experience. :-)

  11. Thanks, Dianne. I know there are pros and cons to each, but I still look forward to being still in one place for a while. :-)

  13. You define your town as small at 6000, but the town I graduated high school in had around 2000. I have learned a lot since then. Especially since my husband has moved me to several cities.
    And, yes, I love cats. Except when mine wakes me up early on a Saturday morning. Ha!

  14. Welcome! Saving Grace appeals to me the most but they all sound interesting. I lived away from my roots for 20 years but moved back almost 9 years ago.

  16. Wow! I bet your house could tell some stories! My maternal grandparents lived in the same house for around 60 years, and my mom has found all sorts of things cleaning it out. :-)

  20. Wow. I can’t imagine moving back to one of the places I lived in the past, but I do still have loved ones in all of most of them. I bet it was different and the same all at once.

  23. Welcome to Inspy Romance, Amy! In my childhood, my parents moved seven times. Since marrying my husband almost 41 years ago, we’ve lived in twelve places… and the current one for 21 years, so that tells you about the first 20 years LOL.

    We moved away from this town twice. I tell people it’s like an elastic band. You can move away but sooner or later it will twang and pull you back home. Our son’s family lives next door, and my husband’s parents and four siblings (and most of their adult kids) all live within a twenty-minute drive, so we’ve definitely got roots in this community. Too bad our daughter’s family lives a couple of hours away!

  24. Welcome I guess I would saving Grace fi rest if I had to pick one to start with..Thanks for listing your books so I can put them on my wish list.

  25. Welcome, Amy! I’m already stalking you on a few places, now I’m stalking on the few I wasn’t before! I’ve never moved, I live in the house I was born in. I’ve never married, and though I worked out of the house, I was co-caregiver with Mom when Daddy passed away, and then was Mom’s full-time caregiver for the last 9 years, til she passed away back in December. Most of my immediate family lives within two and a half hours from me, with the exceptions being my oldest nephew who lives in NC, and my 2nd to oldest niece, who lives in New Zealand with her Kiwi hubby and three Kiwi children.

  26. Writing Home intrigues me most. I am a root girl. I grew up in the same house from birth to 10 years old, and then we moved outside of town to a tiny farming community, where I lived in the same house my parents and sister still live in, until I went to college. My husband and I have lived in this house for 13 years in June. We have no plans to move.

  27. Hi Amy! Welcome! All of your books sound super interesting. I am someone who has roots, I have been living in the same house for eighteen years.

  28. Hi Amy, all your books sound very good, I already have Faith and Hope, so any of your other ones would be Great! I have pretty much been staying in the same place, not much moving around with us. We have been living in the same house for 40 years now, this is where our 2 now grown children were raised and now 2 of our 3 grandchildren are being raised here in the same town, so my husband and I have not moved much at all since we got married. Have a Great weekend and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.

  29. Welcome Amy!

    I spent all of my formative years in Michigan, but have spent all of my adult life in South Carolina. To me, home means family. Thankfully most of mine are nearby.

  30. Hi! I think both Saving Grace and Writing Home sound good :) I’ve lived in the same city for 15+ years, but there was something about living in another country/different culture for 4 1/2 months that it took me a while to keep growing those roots once I came back, lol. I can’t imagine what it must have been like moving that many times, but I found your topic really interesting! Nice to meet you!

  31. Three sisters! And I thought it was rough to have a sister and brother. :-) But I love both of my siblings now, too, and I had a lot of fun writing about those two sisters.

  32. I hear ya! I wouldn’t have nearly as many interesting places to write about if I hadn’t moved so much. And it gave me a lot of experiences and friends, too. Not to mention the knowledge of how to make more friends.

  33. A couple hours away doesn’t sound too bad. Right now, we’re about ten away from my parents, and we’ve been trying to find a way to get them closer again for about three years now. Hoping this summer will be the one. Of course, we have two more years while my sister and her family are overseas before we can all be back close again, but we’re working on it. :-)

  34. Thanks for adding my books to your wish list! Saving Grace is definitely one of my favorite books. I had a lot of fun with those characters. And the setting, too.

  35. Wow! That’s amazing.
    And thanks for “stalking” me. My husband’s high school students stalk me about once a year, just to see if he’s telling the truth about me being an author. I think I impress them when they look me up. :-)

  36. My husband and I are hoping where we are now can be a home for many, many years to come. We’ve been here almost four, so we’ll see if I make it past the six year mark this time. It’s looking better than most of the places we’ve lived in the past. Maybe I can soon join your club of living somewhere more than 13 years!

  38. Having grandchildren in town sounds like a good incentive to stay put. So glad you enjoyed Faith and Hope. God bless you, too!

  40. Nice to meet you, too! And I’ve never lived in another country or culture (I am southern through-and-through), so you’ve got some experiences I’ve never had, too. :-)

  41. Welcome!! It is so nice to meet you. I have lived in Toledo, Ohio my whole life. Actually, we are living in my childhood home. Your book Faith and Hope sounds like a wonderful book. Again, welcome. God bless you.

  42. Hi Amy, and welcome! We moved around quite a bit too so I know what you mean about not having roots in one place.

  43. Thank you! I have family from Ohio and I keep thinking one day I need to go explore that state.

  48. Hi Amy I guess small is defined in many ways. My penpal from America came from Yuma and said it was a small town then next letter said around 50,000 and another penpal lived in a small town of 500. We were 5,000 at the time. (the town I first lived in was around 250 people. It really depends who you ask but we are the hub for a lot of smaller places in the surrounding area. Unlike the east coast of America most towns are not just a few miles away. We have some tiny places within 30 mins that may have a town hall but very little else a couple have a small deli but they do most of their shopping in my town. the next bigger town of around 25,000+ is over an hour away. (country hour not city hour)

    My girl Libby seems to think my bed is her bed and takes up more room than me sometimes. this morning was biting my ankles when I tried to move her a bit. Henry tends to come in meowing for breakfast to wake me if I am not already up.

  50. I think the first book sounds good to me, though really, they all do :-) I like when a couple are navigating a new relationship and things from the past comes up because it’s a great opportunity for them to help each other through it.

    Faith and Hope sounds good too because it sounds like the sisters also have to find common ground when maybe there wasn’t any to begin with. Navigating sibling relationships as adults can be interesting :-)

    I grew up in Illinois but moved to the Oregon coast in 1996 & have been here ever since. I think I’ve found my “roots”, especially because my husband did most of his growing up years here in the Pacific Northwest (from Seattle area to here on the OR coast). I really enjoy living life here. His sister lives about a four hour drive in Washington so it’s always nice to be able to visit her whenever we can….I sometimes wished we lived a lot closer because she’s the only family I have out here. The rest of mine are all still living in the Midwest.

    Welcome to IR Amy! I’m looking forward to getting to know you more :-)

  51. Thanks so much. Someday, I will make it up to the Northwest to see all those beautiful places. :-) But I totally understand how hard it is to be far from family, too.

  55. I’m so excited you’re at one of my favorite blogs! You know, the ones that, if you don’t have time to read it right now, you put a little flag on it to read later? Great post, and great question. What makes home? Where your family is. I grew up in Western KY, live in Indiana for three years, then back to KY, and then, a few years later, to a little town about sixty miles from where we’d always called “home.” Now? We’ve been here thirty years–longer than any other place I’ve lived–and it’s home!

    I’ve read all your books except the first one! I can’t believe I missed it!

  56. Maybe you missed it because it came out before we met. :-)
    Thanks for your support!

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