The Kindle edition is sold on Amazon and will be automatically added to your library on 9/28/2024. Click the link below to purchase through Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7RNKKHB/ref=zg_bs_g_3045861_d_sccl_1/147-5443011-9931101?psc=1

The PDF Format is sold exclusively through the Lisa Loucks-Christenson Network. Peacock Books & Wildlife Art is licensed to sell this book. All books are sold for your personal reading enjoyment and can not be used in any way without express written permission. You will own a permanent copy of the PDF file that can't be shared, resold, or given away. 

In 1988, I stepped out of my comfort zone and changed my life. I had accepted a job working on the Vegetation Crew for the Minnesota Conservation Corps. It was a seasonal position, run, then, by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

It was like God had heard my battle cry, and suddenly, my life and my faith had changed. This was the year I lopped, sawed, preened, and cut my path to my future. I was not alone. I had the help of my crew, two men, both of whom had become stealth guardians of my heart, brother-like co-workers that became my safety net from the storms we weathered while we worked.

This is a record of my wild adventures. An unveiling of experiences as my crew traversed and cleared goat prairies at O.L. Kipp State Park (now called “Great River Bluffs State Park”); how we helped measure the second cave at Mystery Caves in Forestville State Park; what grasses we gathered at Carlos Avery Management Area; our tree projects at Frontenac State Park, the controlled burn at Helmer-Meyer State Park (now called “Meyer-Big Island State Park”); our cutting and lopping at Sakatah Lake State Park, the “singing hills” as given by the Dakota Indians. It was the place I found a mimic among us, an orange spicebush caterpillar. It was here that we sang along to Tracy Chapman’s new release, “Fast Car” between bites of our lunch.

Our journey went fast, but we drove trucks, not cars. Our lives changed with each season. Our strength had become a three-fold cord intertwined with each other’s thoughts. Surreptitiously, we had become shields around each other’s souls. Inside this story you’ll discover a grandfather figure that had spiritually hitched a ride with us. How and how his words became our mantra once we realized that things really did work out for the best in the end. It was his gift of words that helped us shudder our storms.

This story shares the seasons of new friendships, rare animal findings, banding the rare Henslow’s sparrow, to finding a state endangered species the Common Five-lined Skink, stepping on and over six-foot timber rattlesnake sheds on the south facing goat prairies—where they liked to sunbathe and had their dens. It shares our bee and hornet stings, as well as losing another MCC member we had worked with.

Hop on the tailgate of this photographic trip shared in this memoir and ride the back roads of our lives. The inside story of three new adults growing up, believing our old age was far beyond the bluffs in view. It was a time, we all relied on each other and formed an unbreakable bond.

This was our time to become stewards of the environment, a time to study and learn about rare and endangered species, hardly ever chipping my pink nails. We became the artists taking the “before” scenes and making them the “after” scenic views. In time, we’d learn to summon our faith and could tell any bluff to “move” and in some ways, it did.

Prior to this job, my life had felt like a series of coin tosses with heads or tails results that had led me nowhere and in every direction. One unnerving flip after the other, using dimes, nickels and quarters that only shimmered like mirages as they fell, giving spinning hints about my future. Luckily, the hat I wore now, unlike the head wear of my costly past, this cap, stamped with the Minnesota Conservation Corps logo, was given to me free.

Only God knew, then, the adventures He had planned for me, starting with the day I mustered up all the courage I had and walked through the doors of the Department of Natural Resources in Rochester, Minnesota.

Here is my collection of memories and reflections, and the experiences that shaped my young adult life into its own story. It’s the unfolding events about me working closely, with two men, John and Louis, both of whom had become my lifetime brothers, at least in my heart, forever stamped with “1988 MCC Brothers.”

July 18, 2024

Today we are sharing a story set in Maple Bay, a  sweet novella by Brittney Joy. If you buy the Kindle Edition today, it's $.00, saving you $2.99 (USD). Click on the link below or on the book cover to connect to the sales page on Amazon. 

We're adding this title to our sister site, www.SweetBooks.us too because we love sweet books and offer them to our international store shoppers. (We sell the print versions of our favorite picks through the Peacock Books bookstore.

Rescued in Maple Bay: A Sweet Small Town Cowboy Romance (Kindle Edition)

Winner of 2023 Readers-Choice Swoony Award for Best Novella

His best friend's widow needs his help... But he's afraid she's stealing his heart as well.

It takes everything Lilah Davis has to be a single mom and run the animal rescue she started with her late husband. In fact, without Henry's parents and his best friend Trace checking in she's pretty sure everything would fall apart. When three abandoned horses are turned over to her care, Trace is the one she turns to for help. It has absolutely nothing to do with how he makes her feel... Besides, she's not ready for anything more than friendship.

Trace Cardona is honoring his best friend’s last wish—for him to watch over Lilah and the kids. So when Lilah ends up with a wild, dangerous horse that needs training, he's willing to step in to help her—and continue to ignore his growing feelings for his friend's widow.

Trace could never take Henry’s place... But the more time Lilah & Trace spend together, the stronger their connection grows. And ignoring their feelings seems impossible. Even if they both know they should.

♥ ♥ ♥

Rescued in Maple Bay is a heartwarming friends-to-lovers novella with a tough but tender cowboy. Be prepared to swoon, smile, and blissfully-sigh. Each book in the Maple Bay Series is set in the same small town with a guaranteed happily ever after.

Rescued in Maple Bay is the prequel to the Maple Bay Series and can be read as a standalone.

• Rescued in Maple Bay
• Starting Over in Maple Bay
• Second Chance in Maple Bay
• Country Stars in Maple Bay
• Matched in Maple Bay

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About the author

July 8, 2024

Are you starting to long for a Christmas story? Check out Alan Highbury's "Meet Me On Christmas Eve," Book 1, Love & Holidays series, a sweet holiday story for this new week in July. Pick up your copy for $.99 (USD), and if you're a KindleUnlimited subscriber, the ebook is free.

Click this link to go to the Amazon website:  https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Christmas-Love-Holidays-Book-ebook/dp/B0CMLLZ25N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20R5EAWQZA7UK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-UhaDn-FusPuvfozgVFz4g.CeuHcXYgPM5zGRJj2DdXtVp2dvtgA_txsc7k5gnOdOw&dib_tag=se&keywords=B0CMLLZ25N&qid=1720441010&sprefix=%2Caps%2C1738&sr=8-1

Until next time, enjoy your reading time!

Lisa Loucks-Christenson

Sweet Romance Book Bargains

Celebrate Christmas in July with this cozy but emotional second-chance romance from Alana Highbury, Amazon bestselling author.

Now an elite resort owner in snowy Minnesota, Mariana has left her humble past firmly behind her—not to mention an epic heartbreak from 10 years ago. When she decides to expand her business to acquire a quaint Christmas village and reclaim her secret love of the holiday, the last thing she expects is to run into him.

Once a wealthy young man who lost it all, Terry Grant is just as dismayed about their encounter as Mariana is. Resentment about their summer romance and their reversal of fortunes—and the fateful Christmas Eve meet-up that never happened—brews between them as Terry becomes an obstacle in her business plans.

Mariana is determined to listen to her head, not her heart. After all, she survived these past 10 years by avoiding emotions and making smart decisions, not pining after a lost love.

But can she resist him when fate brings them together this Christmas?

This is a sweet romance without explicit scenes, but it does contain occasional swearing and some serious themes.

                                                        Alana Highbury

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hope River Radio™

a “resting place” for up & down faith™

Artists who are signed to Christian labels have the opportunity to submit links to their songs. As the owner of Hope River Radio, I take the responsibility of purchasing all the songs for air play.

The Spy of Escondida

By Lottie Morgan

Bookfunnel Link:

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/3mca1lg3w5

Tagline:

It was supposed to be a one-time job, but it was only the beginning...

Blurb:

Lucia is a retired spy, now running a security company that caters to the ultra-elite in her home country of Escondida, a beautiful Mediterranean island nation off the coast of Spain. Her latest client? The Prince of Escondida himself.

Prince Martin has been put in charge of security for his sister's graduation party. Viewing it as his chance to finally prove himself to his father, Martin doesn't want to mess this up and hires the best of the best. Even though he hasn't met her yet, Lucia comes very highly recommended.

After researching the royal family, Lucia determines that she needs more specialized help for this job and enlists the services of four other women from the spy community. Lucia and her team must work together to keep the royal family safe, all while she fights her growing attraction to the prince - which may be one fight she doesn't mind losing!

Scene Snippet:

The next day Lucia made her way to the meeting place. After speaking with the prince, she had looked into King Mateo and reached out to a few contacts. Word on the street was that something was going down at the palace soon. It was clear - she needed a specialized team for this job. 

She had sent out contact information and a location to a few highly recommended people, none of whom she knew anything about except their code names and excellent reputations. She found herself standing before a small, broken down building. As far as she could tell, there was nobody else there. She smiled, opening the door. It creaked loudly and she found three individuals sitting at a long table, all of them women.