Hello, lovely friends!

Today is release day for my writerly friend Brandy Heineman! Brandy is a beautiful writer with a gift for weaving unusual elements into an artfully complex story, which she has done superbly in her latest romantic suspense Like Honey for the Bones. This novel features two flawed but redeemed-by-the-love-of-Jesus characters who are doing their darnedest to love Jesus with all their hearts while trying not lose their hearts to each other. Not that these must be mutually incompatible, but of course he and she think they are until proven otherwise. And I love how Brandy goes about proving just that, with many unlikely twists and unexpected wit.

If you love unusual fiction that holds to solid biblical values, as I do, pick up your copy of Like Honey for the Bones today.

Meanwhile, I’m happy to welcome Brandy back to the blog so we can get a glimpse into her bookish life with a few Quick Qs!

Quick Qs

• FAVORITE PLACE TO WRITE. I paired a Bluetooth keyboard to my phone and drafted a chunk of my current WIP while sitting by a duck pond at a park on my lunch breaks. Since I no longer work close enough to that park to frequent it, though, I generally write in my office at home. Time to find a new scenic spot!

• EARLY BIRD OR NIGHT OWL. Card-carrying night owl! I’m always trying to squeeze a more from the end of each day before turning in.

• COFFEE OR TEA. Tea for me, please! I keep an assortment of favorites close at hand and even splurged on electric kettles for both my home and work offices so I can always brew at the correct temperature. Quick tip: if you find green tea bitter, try brewing at a lower temp and/or shorter time than the packaging suggests. To my taste, 160F for 90 seconds makes a perfect cup!

• MOUNTAINS OR SEASIDE. I love both, but I’ll have to say the seaside. The enormity of the ocean always renews my sense of wonder at God’s creation.

• FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A FRIDAY NIGHT. My husband and I found a new local spot we enjoy, and Friday night is the perfect time to go get a dozen oysters to share at a patio table while we chat and watch the trains go by.

• ONE THING YOU LOVE ABOUT WHERE YOU LIVE. Spring and summertime in north Georgia are magnificent! Everywhere you look, the cherry trees, redbuds, dogwoods, mimosa trees, and crepe myrtles are bursting with color and blooms.

• SECRET SUPERPOWER. I can perform “The Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll in a passable approximation of an English accent. If ever our paths cross and you have three minutes to be entertained, I’ll be happy to share my little party trick with you!

• MOST MEMORABLE PLACE YOU’VE TRAVELED. My husband and I traveled to Waikiki for our honeymoon. I’ll never forget the ocean views, rainbows, flowers and wildlife, and dancing with my brand-new husband at a luau.

• DREAM DESTINATION. As anyone who picks up Like Honey for the Bones may guess, I have a serious culture-crush on Norway. I would love to visit Oslo and other places I’ve only imagined my characters calling home.

• FICTION OR NONFICTION (ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND). Fiction, always! I’m a mood reader, so even though the titles on my nightstand are supposed to be “next in line,” they usually get bumped in favor of something shinier.

• CURRENTLY READING. I’m starting All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese later tonight!

• ONE GOOD BOOK REC. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart. The one fantastical element, a limited touch of telepathy, brings an intriguing dimension to the heroine’s search for the person responsible for her father’s death against the backdrop of a grand but crumbling English estate.

• ONE MEMORABLE MOVIE. I’ve been watching classic films, partly as research for my next novel, and mostly for sheer enjoyment. One standout: The Enchanted Cottage (1945), directed by John Cromwell and starring Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, and Herbert Marshall, offers a beautiful take on the transformative power of love.

• AGE YOU CAME TO JESUS. Although I had the blessing of a Christian upbringing, I was twenty-five before trading in “head knowledge” of my religion for saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

• ONE MEANINGFUL BIBLE VERSE. Years ago I adopted a habit of praying a short prayer upon waking, preferably before my feet hit the floor for the day. When I discovered in Psalm 143 the right words for what I wanted to pray over each day, I made them part of that prayer:
  Teach me to do Your will,
  For You are my God;
  Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. -Psalm 143:10 (NASB)

Thank you, Brandy! 🙂

More about Brandy

Brandy Heineman writes dual timeline novels laced with generational secrets and mysteries of the faith, believing that with Jesus, it is possible to overcome the past and find real connection.

She graduated from Wesleyan College with a degree in Business Administration and Communication, and has a background in financial services and marketing. Though frequent moves in her early life gave her an appreciation for home, family, and deep connections, she’s been a happy denizen of metro Atlanta for more than fifteen years. She loves springtime in Georgia, testing new recipes on unsuspecting friends, and to her husband Michael’s chagrin, showing her punny disposition.

Brandy’s debut novel, Whispers in the Branches, finaled in the 2014 American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Genesis Contest, and after its initial publication, was rereleased in 2020. She has served as president of the North Georgia chapter of ACFW. Her work has appeared in various publications. Brandy lives in Metro Atlanta with her husband, Michael.

More about the book

Present Day. Solveig Borja fled Virginia to escape the guilt of one reckless night, and once she settles the family estate, she’s Norway-bound and never looking back. Meanwhile, Kyle Benton has come seeking asylum from past sins—which Solveig shatters even as their hopeless romance blooms. But when they discover a skeleton at Rice Caverns, its century-old mystery holds startling links to the here-and-now.

1919. The Great War is won. Gussie Rice longs for her beau’s return from France, until she learns he’s confined at a stateside hospital and her closest confidant is part of the secret. Her bid for love sparks a confrontation that ricochets through time…

Bad blood and escalating threats swirl around Solveig, and Kyle’s new life proves no haven from the old with his brother’s killer trolling the shadows. As the past rears up, the cavern’s hidden places beckon with power to light their hope or to swallow them in utter darkness.

Buy the book here.

Happy reading!

❤️ Katherine