"The Prayer Box" by Lisa Wingate (Review & Giveaway)

ISBN:  978-1-4143-8688-1
Softcover $15.99

I'm a North Carolina girl. I grew up in the Coastal town of Wilmington and was well acquainted with the beach, the sand, the surf, the fresh breezes, the old homes, the new-comers, and unfortunately - the storms. The all-so-very-devastating storms that would toss boats from one side of the barrier island to the other or totally snatch them from their very existence. I remember a whole block of ocean front houses disappearing after one of those major storms.

So being somewhat acquainted with the coastal life, I really appreciated Lisa Wingate's story. She has brought the sand, surf, and storms to life and also the people that perpectually populate the coast.  But not only has she brought the North Carolina Outer Banks (farther north than my home area in southern tip of North Carolina) to life in spot-on descriptions, she has woven a story of lives troubled by the social mores of several generations, of dysfunctional families, and how the pain of the past can be faced, and how change is possible. It is the story of the care and bonding of folks who come together to mend storm-ravaged buildings and scared lives.

This is a story of prayer. Of letting God know your heart and then placing your burden in the hands of God and letting go of it.

It is a story worth the reading and worth the sharing with others. I'm passing my copy along to another reader whom I know will thoroughly enjoy it. I believe she in turn will pass it along to others. You see good things are to be shared. That, too, is part of the message in "The Prayer Box."

GIVEAWAY: The good folks at Tyndale want to bless one of Chat With Vera's readers with their very own copy of The Prayer Box. Use the Rafflecopter entry form below to put your bid in for a copy. Who knows? It just might be your day to have a little special blessing come your way. Begins September 1 & ENDS September 25 @ 12:01 a.m. ET. Open to continental US addresses only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:  Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of 16 books.  Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its fifteenth printing from Penguin Putnam.  Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as in many independent bookstores.

Recently, Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, received national attention with back-to-back nominations for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and The Summer Kitchen (2010). In 2011, Lisa's Novel, Never Say Never, won the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award.  Pithy, emotional, and inspirational, her stories bring to life characters so real that readers often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends.

Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, in mainstream fiction.  Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational southern fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles and have been chosen for numerous awards.
DISCLOSURE: I was offered a complimentary Advance Reader Copy of "The Prayer Box"  with the request to read and share my thoughts on the book. Opinions expressed are solely my own and I received no compensation for this review. Published by Tyndale House Publishers Inc.