12 days until Christmas
Heather B. Moore is the award-winning author of several historical novels which are set in Ancient Arabia and Mesoamerica. Heather writes her historical thrillers under the pen name H.B. Moore. She is also the author of two non-fiction books, and several women’s novels including the co-authored series The Newport Ladies Book Club, the anthology series A Timeless Romance Anthology, and the historical romantic suspense novel Heart of the Ocean, written under Heather B. Moore.
Please take a minute to visit Heather at one of the links below:
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LDSWBR: What is your favorite Christmas song/hymn? Does it have special meaning to you?
HEATHER: I love The First Noel… no particular reason, but it always makes me feel the Christmas spirit when I hear it.
LDSWBR: Do you get together with friends/family to play board games on Christmas or New Year’s? What games do you like to play? Do you have a favorite game from your childhood?
HEATHER: We always play the White Elephant game at our family Christmas party, and I love to do puzzles. Sometimes my kids join me, but other times they get tired of the 1000 pieces.
LDSWBR: If you could recommend only one book from those you read this year, what would it be and why?
HEATHER: That’s easy: Dancing on Broken Glass by Ka Hancock. It was beautiful and compassionate story about a woman who marries a man who is bi-polar among other things.
LDSWBR: Thank you, Heather!
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Finding Sheba
An ancient legend is reborn . . . One that might prove the Bible false.
For centuries, historians have theorized the Queen of Sheba as only a seductive legend, and scholars have debated over the legitimacy of King David or King Solomon. When undercover Israeli agent, Omar Zagouri, stumbles onto a tomb in Northern Jerusalem he unknowingly finds the final clue that threatens to overthrow government claim to the Holy Land, pits wealthy collectors against one another, and sends ruthless archaeologists scrambling to find the queen’s secret burial place. An assassination attempt on the Coptic Pope, His Holiness, Patriarch Stephanus II, is only the first in the chain of lethal crimes. Omar must find a way to prevent the greatest discovery of the century from becoming the most deadly.
Ruby’s Secret
AMAZON | KINDLE | BARNES & NOBLE | NOOK | DESERET BOOK | SEAGULL BOOK
At age sixty-two, life is finally beginning for newly widowed Ruby Crenshaw. Her son is grown and gone, and after long years spent as a loyal wife to her charming but unfaithful husband, she’s ready to live the life she’s always dreamed of. Her resolve is firm: she’ll never make the mistake of giving her heart to another man.
The first step in Ruby’s quest for a carefree lifestyle was to create the Newport Ladies Book Club, an unlikely gathering of women who have been her haven. Now she’s ready to take her newfound independence a step further—along with her friends from the local senior center, Ruby is jetting off to a much-needed Greece adventure. What she isn’t prepared for is Gabriel—the group’s tour guide—a native Greek and a true gentleman. His unquestionable charm is hard to resist. But resist she must—because no matter their growing attraction, Ruby is not about to fall for charming again!
How long since your last white elephant gift exchange? Do you exchange serious gifts or funny gifts? What is the strangest white elephant gift you’ve given/received?
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**To enter the LDSWBR Countdown to Christmas 2013, leave a thoughtful comment below.**
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Prizes include a $50 Amazon gift card and the author-donated books listed below. This is raffle-style drawing where all entries throughout the contest period are entered into the same “hat” for all prizes. US only. 18 years and older please. See all contest rules and restrictions below.
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By leaving a comment and entering the Countdown to Christmas 2013, you agree to the contest rules below:
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY; entrants must be 18 years or older; open to residents of continental US only; giveaway begins December 3, 2013 and all entries must be received by 12:00 Midnight December 23, 2013 Mountain Time; to enter, complete the required entry on each post and any additional entries of your choice if listed; LDS Women’s Book Review reserves the right to determine what is considered a thoughtful comment as per each post’s required entry; giveaway prizes include a $50 Amazon gift card and a variety of book prizes donated by featured authors; the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning; LDS Women’s Book Review is not liable for technical problems which may affect entry into the giveaway; winner identity will be verified by email address; winner will be selected December 28, 2013 by use of a sequence generator on random.org; winner will have until January 4, 2014 to claim their prize; if any prize winner forfeits or does not claim prize, prize will be re-awarded to next winner in sequence; all prizes will be awarded; limit of two prizes per entrant; this contest/giveaway is not associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other entity unless otherwise specified; by entering the giveaway you give LDS Women’s Book Review the right to publicize your name on the LDS Women’s Book Review blog; winner agrees to release LDS Women’s Book Review from any liability as a result of winning; email comments and questions to LDS Women’s Book Review – ldswbr (at) gmail (dot) com; giveaway subject to Utah regulations; VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
**Book Prizes (as of 12/13/13 – more to be added to this list!)**
- Rocky Road by Josi S. Kilpack (personalized copy)
- Shannon’s Hope by Josi S. Kilpack (personalized copy)
- The House at Rose Creek by Jenny Proctor (signed copy)
- Penumbras by Braden Bell (signed copy)
- The Reluctant Blogger by Ryan Rapier (personalized copy)
- Just Ella by Annette K. Larsen (personalized paperback)
- Longing For Home by Sarah M. Eden (signed copy)
- Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster (ebook or signed paperback)
- Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson (audio CD)
- Finding Sheba or Ruby’s Secret by H.B. Moore (winner’s choice; format of choice)
Previous Countdown to Christmas 2013 posts:
- Rocky Road and Shannon’s Hope by Josi S. Kilpack (12/3/13)
- The House at Rose Creek by Jenny Proctor (12/4/13)
- Penumbras by Braden Bell (12/5/13)
- The Reluctant Blogger by Ryan Rapier (12/6/13)
- Just Ella by Annette K. Larsen (12/7/13)
- Longing For Home by Sarah M. Eden (12/9/13)
- Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster (12/10/13)
- Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson (12/12/13)
25 Responses to “Finding Sheba and Ruby’s Secret by H.B. Moore – Countdown to Christmas 2013”
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We love my husband’s work white elephant party … it’s always so funny. My favorite gift was the sombrero-shaped chips and dip bowl that played The Mexican Hat Dance when you pushed a button. So fun!
I took my new wife to an extended family Christmas party. She ended up getting one of the few nice things. The number of people that tried to get it back, and the lengths they went to made her question her decision to join the family, I think.
It has been a long time since I attended a white elephant party..can’t even remember what I got :)
I have not had the opportunity to do a white elephant gift exchange this year but probably one of the most odd things I have received is a 70’s style green and red vase in the shape of a red and green flower. It sounds okay but in reality it looks like something you would see if you were ever in a drug induced state. Oh…and a funny gift always a funny gift for the exchange. You can never go wrong with an autographed framed picture of yourself.
We usually have a serious gift exchange with my hubby’s family, but this year we were told to bring our favorite thing to exchange, and it needs to be under $5. So, I am going to take a book and a bag of cinnamon bears. Lucky person who gets them! :o)
I went to two white elephant gift exchanges just last week. We try to give funny gifts. I had to laugh when the tissue box that has the tissue coming out of the nose that we gave several years ago made a repeat appearance at one of the gift exchanges last week!
We have a white elephant gift exchange at my in-laws instead of Christmas gifts (there are too many of us now!) The strangest gift given at one of these was a live rabbit!!
I’ve participated in two gift exchanges so far this year, but they both specified “real” gifts. I think the gag gifts are more fun. The craziest thing I ever got was a bag full of take out condiment packets (ketchup, salsa, etc.). That’s a real white elephant there.
My family has a white elephant party every year! It is so funny! I received a pair of fake eyelashes and glow-in-the-dark ring… I love having white elephant parties!
We did a white elephant exchange last year when all my in-laws got together around Thanksgiving. It’s fun when you add rules about exchanging and stealing other people’s gifts!
I have heard that Dancing on Broken Glass is an excellent read! That makes at least twice it’s been recommended. Guess I’d better read it. :)
LONG time since I’ve done a white elephant gift
I did a white elephant gift exchange last year. I guess it depends on the setting whether I go funny or serious. (An actual white elephant gift; it was a picture frame someone had given me that I didn’t want. I found it amusing that when it was open someone at my table said that it wasn’t what a white elephant gift should be (it was a rather expensive frame, but I didn’t like it) because it was actually something I didn’t want. :-)
Should say, last year I did an actual…
Actually, we did White Elephant gifts last year at Christmas time with family. We were looking for more serious ones so that the people didn’t totally hate what they received! I remember when I was a teenager one year we did it as the youth in our Ward and I received a wrapped calendar for that year, and we did the exchange in December, so yeah, a useless calendar pretty much, haha! I’ve seen people do a new roll of toilet paper as a gift, but to me, that’s just lame!
I am not a big fan of White Elephant gifts, I think they are a waste of money :( I think the last one I participated in was about 5 years ago, but I honestly can’t remember what I got!
I don’t really do white elephant but my brother is great for buying funny gifts for.
I love white elephant gift exchanges because of all the funny gifts that are given. I never go to a white elephant gift exchange expecting to receive something that I want. Just the opposite. So I definitely go for all the laughing that is sure to be involved. My favorite gift is one that we gave. It was an actual phone that looked like a giant package of gum. So tacky I thought it was hilarious!
The last time I participated in one was for work about five years ago. I can never think of anything very creative, but I love to see what other people bring and always have a good laugh with friends.
It’s been a year since my last white elephant gift exchange, but probably one of the funniest gifts was a foghorn – for some reason, everyone wanted that so bad!
We do a white elephant gift exchange with my husbands family every Christmas. It’s funny stuff, one year my little boy got a jar full of yellow colored water labeled reindeer pee!
I apparently don’t get out much. It’s been over ten years that I can remember. I want to say it was a toliet paper roll, but I don’t remember exactly. I’d say I’d like to give funny gifts.
The strangest thing we seem to get EVERY year is a roll or three of TP. Yup. Nice.
We just had one at our family Christmas party 2 weeks ago. I like to go for funny. The strangest thing I got was probably a red and black bra that was WAY too big for me.
Haven’t been too one since I was a child. I gave a huge real puffer fish that had been taxidermist also it had been puffed before it had been taxed. It was a light also. It was the weirdest, grossest thing I have ever seen or even touched. I am getting chills down my spine right now just thinking about it.