Refining Josie release week

God’s Gentle Reminder

I am a perpetual screw up–at least it feels that way sometimes. There are no mistakes that I hide from others, but I am sure people are starting to wonder how much I mess up. Blame my undiagnosed ADHD or call me flaky and unfocused, what the reason for my mistakes they are often and leave me feeling terrible about myself.

Most mistakes are never intentional but it doesn’t mean that it won’t disconnect you from people nonetheless. The inability to remember things unless written down make it hard to commit to things which in turn leaves friends and loved ones feeling like they can’t call due to undependability. When I hit the bottom earlier this year, God sent a friend to help me see what needed to happen and offered some sound advice. She pointed me in the right direction to help keep me better organized but also reminded me about what the Word of God says to better keep me accountable. But most importantly, she reminded me of something I learned a long time ago but forgot.

It’s okay to know your limits and not over commit. God gives all of us talents but not all of us have the same talent. For me to be effective in my career, my family, and with my friends it is crucial to know when I can give my best yes. Over commiting when I do not have the ability to commit to it is when I become unreliable.

This reminder has saved my backside several times this year as more needs have come to the surface this year, thus making it difficult to give everyone everything I had. God used that friend to encourage, remind, and maybe even warn me that I needed to start applying some of those practices and mind sets again.

Refining Josie by Carolyn Miller

Get a copy here on Amazon

What’ll it take for the prodigal daughter to share her deepest secrets… and her heart?

Josephine Green returns to the islands in an attempt to reconcile with her family, but with a cloud over the family business, and little in the way of gardening skills, Josie’s painful past and flaky ways prove less than endearing for Greener Gardens’ hardworking crew.

Stuck without any other options, Josie is forced to accept her sister’s offer of a job that takes her to Breakers Head where she encounters Aussie teacher, Lachlan Jones.

A long-lost relative might’ve brought Lachie to a tiny music recording studio on the Independence Islands, but it’s also brought questions about how to care for someone he barely knows, especially considering he’s the last family she has. Questions regarding his future soon pale when he encounters the vibrant-haired Josie, whose sass and attitude takes some getting used to.

Neither imagined more until they began to bond over music and environmental causes. Both discover that first impressions need not be lasting ones.

But with the future of Gardens Gardens looking shaky, and Josie’s faith and self-worth just as tenuous, can deepening a friendship into something more ever work? And what happens when Lachlan’s work means he has to return to Australia after Christmas? What’ll it take for two hearts to heal and make a future possible?

This Breakers Head novel is Carolyn Miller’s final book in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.

The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

Q & A with Carolyn

When the time came for this final Island, I asked the authors to do a mini-interview with me to share with readers their thoughts on the experience.

I hope you enjoy my time with Tabitha.

M:What has been your greatest joy writing this series?

C: My greatest joy has been getting to know the other fabulous authors and readers. This series really showed readers I didn’t just write historical fiction, so it’s been so nice to have the opportunity to get back to my contemporary writing roots.

M: What was your hardest struggle writing those series?

C: I think initially it was tricky to know exactly how things were going to pan out between us all, each of us with different ideas about what the different islands would look like, and to make sure our stories didn’t overlap too much. I found that especially because I’m here in Australia, with everyone else in the US, so the time zones (and some minor English language differences) made things tricky at times.

M: Who was your favorite character(s)?

C: Ooh, I really like Callie Steele, who we see something of in each of my books, but especially gets her moment to shine in Regaining Hope. Callie is the ultra organized, list-loving professional who meets charming, relaxed surfer Kai Brody, and discovers that all work and no play is not really God’s way after all. I also really enjoyed writing Samantha Greene, whom we met in Restoring Fairhaven, especially as she stood up for herself against the men. And Bella Dwyer, the redheaded, film-loving librarian from Rebuilding Hearts, with her quest to find if a real man can live up to her fictional heroes is another heroine I really invested in. But honestly, I love all of my characters. They’re part of me, and I hope readers love them too.

M: What are you working on now that it is time to leave the Independence Islands?

C: I’ve been working on another hockey series, Northwest Ice, that follows on with some of the heroes from my first hockey series, the Original Six. I’ve also got a series that follows on from Muskoka Blue, which includes the books Muskoka Shores and Muskoka Christmas. Next year I will have a number of other contemporary and historical romances release. The best way to stay up to date with all my books is to subscribe to my newsletter at https://www.carolynmillerauthor.com/connect I hope readers will say g’day and enjoy lots of happy reading!

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked as a public high school English teacher. A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and LM Montgomery, Carolyn loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her contemporary romance series includes the Original Six hockey romance series, and the Independence Islands series, and her historical series include the Regency Brides and Regency Wallflowers series.