Today I get to share with you an excellent book!!! Hymns in the Hills, by Rebekah A. Morris, is a book that I helped beta-read and loved. So when she was looking for people to participate in the release tour, I was only too happy to help! 🙂
In this post: book review, author interview, giveaway, and tour schedule (as well as other information about the author and book)!! I hope you enjoy reading this post and are encouraged to read Hymns in the Hills!
First off, the review…
“’Could you not teach them what you do know?’
“Separated from her parents and sent to live with unknown relatives for the summer, Belle Standish clings hard to the promises found in her dear Bible and her beloved hymns. As she grows to love her newly discovered family, she finds much work to be done for her Lord in this neglected field.
“But when danger threatens those she loves, Belle’s faith and courage are tested in ways she never imagined. Will God’s promises hold true even in the midst of the storm? And what can she possibly accomplish with just her one little light?” ~book synopsis
Title: Hymns in the Hills
Author: Rebekah A. Morris
Genre(s): Christian Historical Fiction
Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (five stars)
Romance Content: There are about one or two kisses between a man and his wife, but that’s about it.
Recommended age range: 10+
My Review:
FTC Disclosure: I was given an e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own, and I received no monetary compensation for my review.
This was an excellent book!!!! I greatly enjoyed it. It was encouraging to read about a ten-year-old having such a heart for the Lord; if I was in that situation I’m not sure if I would have the same attitude as Belle did! The other characters were sweet; I like spunky Ali, calm and steady Ez, cute little Mattie, Uncle Nathan, and the others. Miss Morris did a great job developing the characters and the story, and did I mention the hymns yet? No? Well, I loved the fact that the titles of the chapters were hymn titles, and Belle’s cheery singing, no matter the circumstance, was so sweet! I would enjoy learning the hymns she sang; some of them I was not familiar with.
This was such a sweet story! I most certainly recommend it! As I said above (in the recommended age range category), I think this book would be good for ages 10 and up, only for the reason that some sections are a little scary. If parents read it first, I think just about all ages would enjoy it. 🙂
The author: Rebekah A. Morris is a homeschool graduate, an enthusiastic freelance author and a passionate writing teacher. Her books include, among others, Home Fires of the Great War, The Unexpected Request, Gift from the Storm and her best-selling Triple Creek Ranch series. Some of her favorite pastimes, when she isn’t writing, include reading and coming up with dramatic and original things to do. The Show-Me state is where she calls home.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45837454
And now I present to you… an interview with the author!
Me: What inspired you to write this novel?
Rebekah: I just had a thought one day wondering what a young Christian girl’s influence would be like if she went to live with relatives she didn’t know and who didn’t know Jesus. Would she keep singing the hymns she loved? If so, what would happen? So I started writing. I thought I’d just write a short story, but it didn’t end up very short. 🙂
Me: How long did it take you to write it?
Rebekah: I started this book in February of 2016, and finished it in March of this year, so about 3 years. I wasn’t working on it the entire time though. During those years I wrote and published several other novels and shorter stories, so this kept getting set aside. But I always enjoyed it when I could pick it back up and write another thousand or so words.
Me: Who do you think would enjoy this?
Rebekah: I hope the entire family will. 🙂 It wasn’t written with a specific age range in mind, so I expect it will be enjoyed by young and older. And yes, even grandparents.
Me: Who is your favorite character?
Rebekah: Oh, dear. I’m really not sure. Of course I love Belle since she is the main character. But Rome, Ali, Ez, and Zeke come in for close seconds. And the Williamsons. Each character pulled at my heart at different times for different reasons. Even a certain person who I didn’t enjoy writing about came in for a little sympathy.
Me: What is your favorite scene?
Rebekah: Uh, favorite scene? Oh, dear. This is hard. I really liked the beginning where Belle meets Zeke and Ez for the first time. And the first night Belle stays with her grandfather. But the ending was a favorite too. But then so was . . . Well, I’ll just leave it with those three.
Rebekah: Thanks so much for letting me visit your blog and talk about my book!
Me: You’re welcome! Thanks for coming!
Next up, the giveaway!! The prize is a Kindle copy of Hymns in the Hills. Now, in order to get an extra entry, every day people can gather 3 words for the sentence (or collect them all at the end if they’d rather). Once they have all the words, it will make a quote from the book that they enter in the giveaway. So, if they don’t visit everyone, they won’t get all the words so that entry won’t be valid even if they try. Make sense? Kinda? 😉 The word that I am sharing today is THINK. Write that down somewhere or just come back at the end of the tour for an extra entry! 🙂 Click here to go to the giveaway!
Posting Schedule: (note: I cannot recommend all of these blogs, as I have not visited them all. Please use Biblical discretion when following links to external sites.)
Monday, May 27th
Rebekah – Introduction post
Leona – Review and Author interview
Amanda – Book Spotlight
Tuesday, May 28
Kaitlyn S. – Review and Author Interview
Rebekah Ashley – Book Spotlight
Rebekah – Names
Wednesday, May 29
Erika – Review
Sarah – Book Spotlight
Rebekah – Hymn Books
Thursday, May 30
Kaylee – Review
Rachel – Review
Rebekah – Editing
Friday, May 31
Esther – Author Interview
Jessica – Book Spotlight
Rebekah – Setting
Saturday, June 1
Kassie – Review and Author Interview
Rosalyn – Book Spotlight/Review
Penny – Review
Rebekah – Final Post + Book Covers
Congratulations for making it to the end of this post!!! I hope you are able to read this book- I really enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
Great Books for God's Girls 
This sounds like an amazing book! And there’s hymns??? That’s an extra plus! I may buy the book. Thanks for the recommendation, Leona! 😃
It is an amazing book! 🙂 And you’re welcome!
Thank you SO much for sharing about my book and being a part of its release tour! 🙂 I really liked your review of it too.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad that I was able to read this book!!