Hi Inspy readers! It’s been a hot minute or two since I was your Sunday hostess, so I’m happy to be here in November! It was a very busy summer at Casa Comer, and I want to share some of that with you.
November is all about gratitude, right? Whether we’re American or not (I’m Canadian, so we celebrated Thanksgiving in October!), it’s always the right time to count our blessings. One of my biggest blessings is my family. I’m just so very thankful for my hubby, our two kids and their spouses, and our five grandkids.
This summer was the first time Grand #4 came on vacation with us and the big girls. We took the four of them (ages 13, 11, 11, and 6) for a nearly two-week jaunt around the province of Alberta in our truck and travel trailer. We had an amazing few days in Dinosaur Provincial Park, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site that neither Jim nor I had ever been to before! This terrain is called the Badlands. You’re just driving along on the flat prairie when all of a sudden you dip into the Red Deer River valley and are surrounded by all these hoodoos.
We got to see actual, active fossil digs on a bus trip into the “restricted area.” You can bet the girls were tickled to be allowed in this area, where they could pick fossils and petrified wood off the ground and hear first-hand stories from the park guides.
This nearly complete skeleton is housed under a dome a few meters away from where it was first discovered.
Winners this Week
If you’re a winner, you should have received an email from the author in charge of the giveaway. If not, please email us at: prizes at inspyromance dot com.
Erin Stevenson Quint’s winner is M Jean Pike!
Congratulations!
Specials this Week
Valerie Comer’s The Cowboy’s Christmas Reunion is free through November 6.
Elizabeth Maddrey’s Hope for Christmas is free through November 9.
Reader Gathering
Have you visited Inspy Romance’s Christian Romance Reader Gathering group on Facebook lately? Come on over… but don’t forget to answer the questions for admittance!
StoryChats @ InspyRomance
Story Chats releases an all-new episode every Friday. This week on Episode 147, Elizabeth, Valerie, and Narelle chatted with Lindi Peterson about her new release, Their Surprise Second Chance. You won’t want to miss it!
Listen to our fun show on your favorite podcasting app, through the player on our podcast tab, or watch us on YouTube! Wherever you listen or watch, please be sure to hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Meghann Whistler shared the scariest thing about writing Christian romance
On Tuesday, Tara Grace Ericson honored the dreaded deadline
On Wednesday, Robin Merrill invited us to Christian romance on Kobo Plus
On Thursday, Teresa Tysinger found herself escaping into Christmas
On Friday, Heather Gray declared herself grateful… and #giveaway
On Saturday, Narelle Atkins shared her book recommendation for Their Surprise Second Chance by Lindi Peterson
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Valerie M Bodden
Tuesday: Toni Shiloh
Wednesday: Elizabeth Maddrey
Thursday: Milla Holt
Friday: Jaycee Weaver
Saturday: Emily Dana Botrous
New Releases
November 2023
A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy (Sweet River Ranch 2) by Valerie Comer
Muskoka Holiday Morsels by Carolyn Miller
Not Until The End (Hope Springs 10) by Valerie M. Bodden
Puppy Love and Christmas Joy (Happiness in Hallburg 4) by Merrillee Whren
October 2023
Once Upon a Starry Night (collection) by Laura Ashwood, Valerie Comer, Jan Thompson, and 9 others
More Than Enough by Jaycee Weaver
Sinclair Sisters Trilogy: The Complete Series by Jaycee Weaver
Amid the Ashes (Seasons of Faith 4) by Milla Holt
Mama Dated Santa by Amy R. Anguish
Marry Christmas by Jaycee Weaver, Teresa Tysinger, and 2 others
This is Phred the Camel. He’s famous. Now you know!
A complete list of Inspy Romance books by our authors is always available on our BOOKS tab. Find our audiobooks and our thank-you gifts for newsletter subscribers there as well!
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
Hi Valerie! Thanks for sharing your travel experiences and beautiful pictures. November is about gratitude. I created Oma’s Gratitude Month ABCs. Today I am grateful for Education and Experiences. A German by birth, but a USA citizen by choice I am grateful for my educational opportunies, which lead to travel experiences on 3 continents. Your pictures remind me of North Dakota Badlands and rock formations in Utah / Nevada. Making memories with grandkids is priceless. I am also thankful for family and friends. At this time with many people having food insecurities, I am so very grateful that my education / career lets me enjoy my retirement with a warm comfortable roof over my head, transportation and food on my table. Blessings this Sunday.
Blessings to you, too, Renate. I’m so thankful for YOU and your constant encouragement.
What a great trip, and what memories the girls (and you!!) will be able to treasure!!! Canada (all of it!!) is on my bucket list of places to go!! I’m thinking that train ride sounds good!! It may be more than one!
A train ride is on my bucket list, too, Trudy! If you ever come to western Canada, be sure to let me know :)
Oh, you better believe I will!! I’d love to meet you in person!!
Excellent!
Hi Valerie, that sounds an amazing trip – how lovely to have all that time with your granddaughters, and Dinosaur Provincial Park sounds and incredible place!
Happy Sunday to all.
It was definitely so fun to see the awe on their faces! They’re good kids. Blessings to you!!!
What an amazing trip and so special to spend the time with the girls. Love your photos! Fantastic that you all had a great time.
Thanks so much, Dianne! It really was a blessing. Have a great day!
Good morning, wow, it sounds like you all had a real learning and great trip, how fun , especially for your grandchildren. Yes, I agree, our families are our Greatest and Biggest Blessings. Have a Beautiful Sunday and a Blessed week. Thank you for sharing your fun trip with us.
Thanks, Alicia! I’m glad you came by today. I appreciate you!
Hi Valerie,
Interesting that you recently visited the Badlands of Alberta. We have Badlands here in the US in South Dakota, my birth state. We have been watching a show on Amazon called Murdoch Mysteries. I guess it is a show that came from the CBC. Anyway, the main character is always solving a murder. The most recent show we watched involved a murder that took place in the Badlands of Alberta.
Oh, interesting that you saw a show that took place there! How fun.
Hi Valerie! Your trip sounds amazing. And to share that with the grandkids, well that is what memories are made of. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. We are on vacation in Traverse City, right on the bay. This is my heaven on earth.
Enjoy your vacation week! Sounds lovely :)
How interesting. It sounds like everyone had a wonderful time. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Thank you, Debra!
Looks like a fun trip. I have a friend in Red Deer.
Australia doesn’t have a Thanks giving at all. Churches often have harvest thanks giving although that seems to have fallen by the wayside to a degree. I remember it growing up. It was always in March and people would take fruit and veg they grew and packaged foods. The packaged foods would go to the churches head office in the city and it would be used to distribute to those in need. The produce was often distributed around town to those who needed it. I think the last year there wasn’t someone local taking the fresh foods. It was given to church locals. It was after this I think we stopped. Which is a pity cos it was a good idea and now if it was just packaged and tin goods they could go to the local careworks that give hampers to those in need. Right now its needed more than ever.
We are having a burst of summer (have moved to the main lounge room as the one I was using for a lounge room gets really hot. Libby is so confused which is hard to watch.
I love the idea of featuring food banks at Thanksgiving (or in lieu of it)! What an amazing way to celebrate abundance and redistribute it, at least a little.