Author
Paula Hrbacek is pleased to announce the release of her new Christian romance
novel, On Higher Ground, a sweet
romance about finding the courage to change.
The
story features three humans and two angels. The angels have been assigned
to help the humans find God’s will for their lives. They offer
inspiration, good luck, divine intervention, and at times, appear in human
form.
“One
review of the book didn’t like the angels,” comments the author. “She
said that everything I had to say about a ‘still small voice’ should have been
attributed to the Holy Spirit, instead. She’s right. It could have
been the Holy Spirit, but I had to use angels in order to create a
dialogue. Characters speak when they don’t understand or don’t know
something. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need to explain anything to the rest
of the Trinity, because they already agree with each other. So, instead,
I made one angel an apprentice, and one a supervisor, so that they would have
something to talk about.”
At
the end of each chapter, the angels discuss why God has answered one prayer
with a no, and another with a yes. The angels take a look at why bad
things happen to nice people. It also discusses why good things happen to
not so nice people and why bad things happen to bad people.
The
main character is a young adult woman, Melanie Worlds, who has run out of luck;
no job, no friends, no future. Desperately wanting to replace the
middle class life she once knew up on “the Hill,” her faith is being tested to
the limits. JT, her newest friend, is up to something, but Melanie isn’t
sure what it is. And then Brad, her high school crush, comes back to
town. She can’t let him know how bad it is, or he’ll lose all respect for
her. And, to make matters worse, someone is trying to break into her
apartment.
None
of her prayers are getting answered, and she feels all alone. But she’s
not. Two guardian angels have been assigned to help these three
humans. The angels know God’s plan, and it’s going to take everything
they’ve got to pull it off. To battle temptation, the angels will need to
instill courage; courage to dare, courage to dream and most of all, courage to
love one another.
Personal
thoughts from Mary Anne Benedetto:
 |
| Mary Anne Benedetto |
I
thoroughly enjoyed reading this book of Christian fiction. I felt that the use
of interaction between the two angels who are assigned to the young people in
the story was incredibly clever and effective. I was reminded by the multiple
times in my life when I have no doubt that I was being spoken to either by the
Holy Spirit or angels or by God Himself, but that “voice” tells you something.
It warns you or causes you to pause and make a better decision or washes you
with peace.
I
love to read books that take me to a place about which I am completely unfamiliar,
and On Higher Ground succeeded in
teaching me what it is like to financially live one day at a time and have to
stretch every single penny. The story provides a clear picture of the
challenges faced by countless numbers of people every day, and if we’ve never
been in their shoes, we have no idea.
This
book also reminded me that we are to offer our time and talents for His glory,
that we need to listen to that small voice that plants thoughts in our minds
about ways in which we can help others--not for our benefit or recognition, but
as a part of His plan for our lives. One small kindness that may not seem all
that significant to us could be a life saver to someone else.
People
are definitely brought into our paths for a reason. I know this through
personal experience. When we are sincerely willing to turn to God for
direction, He opens gigantic doors, He orchestrates “chance” meetings, and He
paves those steep, winding trails.
For
a book that is a bright spark in your reading life, add On Higher Ground to your list and devour it for a sweet blessing.
Mary Anne Benedetto
Paula
Hrbacek is the author of On Higher Ground,
Stars Shine After Dark and four
non-fiction craft books. She won first place in an international writing
contest sponsored by Echoes of The Right to God in 2011. She majored in
journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and writes two newspaper
columns for The Examiner, an online newspaper.
 |
| Paula Hrbacek |
On Higher Ground is available in
paperback, Kindle and Nook from Amazon and B&N.
Author website: http://paulahrbacek.weebly.com/
Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and wonderful New Year!
Lovingly presented to you by,
Mary Anne Benedetto
Author and Certified Lifewriting Instructor
Author of Eyelash, 7 Easy
Steps to Memoir Writing: Build a Priceless Legacy One Story at a Time!, Never
Say Perfect and From Italy with Love & Limoncello, Write Your Pet's Life Story in 7 Easy Steps!
