Rendezvous 2025 + GIVE AWAY

Welcome to the Takeover Blitz for Rendezvous 2025, hosted, sponsored, and organized by JustRead Publicity Tours! I've thoroughly enjoyed the past two years and can't wait for November to see the readers and authors again! I sure hope I'll be seeing & meeting some of you!

You are Invited

Rendezvous: reader and writer gathering 

November 7-8, 2025 

Holiday Inn St Louis SW – Route 66

Join fellow readers and 46 writers at the third annual Rendezvous to celebrate Christian fiction and sweet reads. This event, modeled after the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat, aims to sweeten reading and storytelling experiences with fellowship and encouragement. Activities will include corporate worship, The Christy Award webcast watch party, speaker sessions, author panels, small group discussions, games, giveaways, a pop-up book shop, and author signings. 

Two Dogs Publishing, Baker Publishing Group fiction imprints (Bethany House and Revell), Haven Fiction, Enclave Publishing, LiteraryScape, Kregel Publications, and Apothecary Audio have joined The Christy Award Program (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) and JustRead Publicity Tours as event sponsors.

Learn more about the 2025 Rendezvous

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Participating Authors

First Row: Abbey Downey, Amanda Cox, Angela Bell, Ann Elizabeth Fryer, Ashley Worrell, Bethany Turner, Cara Putman, Carol Moncado, Christy Barritt, Connilyn Cossette, Crystal Caudill, Crystal D. Grant. 

Second Row: Dana R. Lynn, Dani Pettrey, Danielle Grandinetti, Darlene L. Turner, E. A. Hendryx, Gabrielle Meyer, Heather Kaufman, Jaime Jo Wright, Janilise Lloyd, Jayna Breigh, Jenny Erlingsson, Jessica R. Patch. 

Third Row: Jill Kemerer, Joanna Davidson Politano, Karen Witemeyer, Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes, Kimberly Duffy, Lisa E. Betz, Lisa Phillips, Lisa T. Bergren, Liz Bradford, Lynn H. Blackburn, Megan Besing, Nancy Mehl. 

Fourth Row: Robin W. Pearson, Sara Brunsvold, Sara Davison, Shannon Sue Dunlap, Sharee Stover, Sherry Shindelar, T. Elizabeth Renich, Tabitha Caplinger, Tara Grace Ericson, Toni Shiloh.

Keynote speakers are Jaime Jo Wright and Toni Shiloh. Lisa Phillips will lead worship. Kimberley Woodhouse, Lynette Eason, Pepper Basham, and Shelley Shepard Gray are unable to join us. Check out recent releases by participating authors in the JustRead Amazon Storefront.

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Register

The registration fee (including a book tote, catered meals, and more) is $200 for readers. This year's gathering is nearing full capacity. Register today! 

Subscribe to email updates and learn more about each author on the Rendezvous website. Connect with other attendees and hopefuls in the Rendezvous Community private Facebook group. 

Register Now

P.S. Don't miss The Christy Award Finalist Reveal Webcast on Friday, September 19. Free registration is required. Visit christyawards.com for more information and registration. The Christy Award honors and promotes excellence in Christian fiction and is a program of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

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Giveaway

(1) winner will receive $50 total winner's choice gift cards (Rendezvous event shirt presale shop, Amazon, Baker Book House, or Christianbook)!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 17, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on September 24, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only for physical prizes. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Augmented By Candace Kade

Augmented

by Candace Kade

Publisher: Enclave Escape

Series: The Hybrid

ISBN: 9798886052220

I've read the first two books in this series and they've been fantastic. I was happy to be on the 

Summary:

Lee Urban must win to survive.

After being sentenced to the banned list, half of the Asian Federation believes Lee Urban is a ticking time bomb that could end the world as they know it. They’re willing to do anything to erase her existence and silence her voice before she can take a stand.

There’s only one way to fight back: enroll in the Race to the Clouds. Winning the competition would garner global media attention and give Urban the coverage she needs to dismantle the enhancement programs. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the deadliest event of the year.

With less time to train than her rivals, Urban and her team must find a way to best the competition. But as enemies close in, riots erupt, and her homeland teeters on the brink of civil war, one thing is certain—she’s running out of time. Not just for herself, but for every Natural she represents.

My Review:

It was great to catch up with Urban, her family, and friends in Augmented. The story picks up right where Hybrid leaves off. You definitely want to read these in order.

I love how the author really brought this world to life. It would be fascinating to spend a day in that world seeing how everything works from the Aquas to the fliers, and who wouldn't want to see a Gamelyon?!

Urban has to participate in the Race to the Clouds so that she can fight to stop what's going on with the enhancement program. Unfortunately, like Urban herself, no one knows where she belongs since she's the Hybrid. Trying to become a representative proves challenging to say the least!

There are a lot of twists and turns. Secrets are unveiled and truths come to light in some unexpected ways. I know, that's rather vague, but clearly I can't give anything away! Her relationship with her family members often seem to leave a lot to be desired, but thankfully, at various points, they are able to step up to the plate.

I loved that even though Urban is on the "banned" list, she finds a sponsor who is willing to take her on and support her for the Race to the Clouds! I wanted to cheer them on throughout the whole story! Mako may have been one of my favorite characters. lol

Everest is once again a hero in the story and I loved how he protected and supported Urban! He takes one for the team and continues to prove himself over and over. Everest is the kind of hero we all want in a story!

Am I sad this series is over, you better believe it! I can't wait for more stories from this author!

About the Author:

Candace Kade likes to spend her time dreaming up stories involving tech, psychology, culture, and/or swords. She’s a certified Krav Maga assistant instructor and loves writing action-packed martial art scenes. A third culture kid, she considers Chengdu and Austin to be her homes. When she’s not exploring new countries, she enjoys hiking in national parks, moving, teaching her husband Mandarin, and keeping a baby human alive. She can be bribed with boba tea, fluffy puppies, and breakfast tacos.

Midnight Rider by D.K. Till + GIVE AWAY

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Midnight Rider by D.K. Till, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! The premise of this book sounds so fascinating! I was sent a digital copy for participating in this tour. Be sure to check out the guest post from the author below.

About the Book

Title: Midnight Rider 
Series: Time Passengers #2 
Author: D. K. Till 
Publisher: Spring Mountain Publishing 
Release Date: July 31, 2025 
Genre: Christian/SciFi/Time Travel

Journalist Thea and her fiancé, Giles, couldn’t be more excited about joining Coltrane McMurray’s inaugural journey to the year 2123. Or is it apprehension? After all, what if something goes wrong? 

Their fears are validated when they arrive to find an alien world of scorching heat, flying cars, and eerie, human-like robots. 

And a brutal murder by person or persons unknown. 

As murder suspects, they are not allowed to leave. Until the police claim they solved the crime. 

Finally free to go home, Thea’s nagging doubts about the case continue to haunt her. But to learn what really happened that awful day, she and Giles must give up their happy lives in 2023 to return to the future. 

But unforeseen setbacks and heartbreak devastate them in 2123. And who is the mother-daughter duo that bear such an uncanny resemblance to Thea? Forced to master technology far more advanced than anything she’s ever seen, Thea vows to solve her friend’s murder. But will she ever see her home again?  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

More in This Series

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Guest Post

1. If you could time travel anywhere, where would you choose to go?

If I had the power to slip through the veil of time—would I choose to travel to the year 2123 or to a previous era? Forward or backward?

To hop forward a century to 2123 is tempting. What sci-fi author wouldn’t want to visit the settings of their books? What will daily life look like for our descendants? Will artificial intelligence reign supreme? How will art, literature, and culture have evolved? These are all questions my imagination had to answer when I wrote both novels in my Time Passengers series. Trying to “pick the brains” of imaginary people whose worldview has been shaped by a century I can only guess at, was challenging, yet my conclusions painted an authentic world that could very well reflect reality in a hundred years.

Yet, the desire to move a century backward in time is just as compelling. I am captivated by the styles and attitudes of the Roaring 20s…crimped hairdos, flapper dresses, dancing until dawn. If I were brave enough, I might even visit a speakeasy!

Ultimately, if compelled to choose, I believe I would journey forward to 2123. To witness what humanity becomes, to see how our present choices ripple into tomorrow, would be the adventure of all adventures, and one that I got to experience vicariously through my characters.

2. Are you tech savvy? If not, what kind of research did you have to do to make sure future technology would make sense for readers in this century?

I would say my tech savvy quotient is average. I’m slow to adapt to new technologies, but once I catch on, I’m off and running. Therefore, to ensure that my depictions of future technology resonated with readers in this century, my future setting had to strike a delicate balance between scientific plausibility and imaginative speculation. My process began by considering current technological trends in AI, clothing styles, music, and quantum physics, then extrapolating all those trends out a hundred years to build a

believable future world.

For example, in 2123, what will replace the smartphone? Answer: the hologram.

What will replace the internet? Answer: The CLOUD (Communications: Local or Universal and Discreet)

And what will replace the automobile? The flying autopod, which runs on remote control technology and solar power.

I don’t want to give anything else away. You’ll have to read it for yourself!

About the Author

D.K. Till writes Split-Time Fiction With A Twist, a blend of the dual timeline fiction she enjoys mixed with a big helping of the sci-fi she loved as a child. The indie author from the land of microbrews and coffee snobs fell in love with reading in kindergarten when her older sister taught her to read. She used to impress her parents’ friends by reading aloud the entire short story The One Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. In first grade, she knew she wanted to write stories, too. Throughout her childhood and teens, she either had her nose in a book or was attempting to write one.

But life got in the way, marriage and children set her dreams aside for higher purposes. Today, with children grown and enjoying retirement, she’s reopened that dream package and is now living the life she had only imagined. 

 The author is a huge fan of the Back to the Future trilogy, inspiring her to write time travel, too. Thus the Time Passengers series was born, perfect for fans of Back to the Future and The Terminator. A classic rock lover, she names her titles after hit rock songs of the 60s and 70s - Starry Starry Night, Midnight Rider, and Nights in White Satin. 

Connect with D.K. Till by visiting dktill.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

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Tour Giveaway

(2) winners will each receive a print copy of Starry, Starry Night plus a $10 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 16, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on September 23, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

A Lady Divided By Sandra Ardoin + GIVE AWAY

Welcome to the Blog Tour for A Lady Divided by Sandra Ardoin, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! Be sure to check out the book excerpt below & enter the giveaway!

About the Book

Title: A Lady Divided 
Series: House of Fire #1 
Author: Sandra Ardoin 
Publisher: Corner Room Books 
Release Date: August 28, 2025 
Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Just when she thinks she’s defeated the past, it returns with a vengeance. 

Fighting to keep her late husband’s dream alive and her land-grabbing neighbors at bay, Laurel Tillman longs for a peace she knew before the war. But when her skill with a rifle saves a stranger from a mountain lion attack—a man whose life she once wouldn’t have hesitated to take—wartime memories rush back. 

While raising her daughter and taking responsibility for the stray women who work on her sheep ranch, Laurel can’t wait to get the injured Yankee out of her house. Getting him out of her heart is an entirely different matter. 

Quinn Spencer, a former Union cavalry officer, owes Laurel a debt, but his career as a new lawyer in town comes with a warning to stay away from the unconventional women of La Casa del Fuego. Then, with the discovery of a dead man on Laurel’s ranch, Quinn must choose between his career and justice for a woman who can’t bear the sight of him. 

As they battle an unknown adversary who sets out to destroy Laurel, will she join forces with her former enemy? Or will she allow the past to overcome any chance of a truce between them . . . and, possibly, something more? 

Meet the women of La Casa del Fuego—House of Fire—as they are forced by circumstances to live their lives outside the bounds of accepted femininity.  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Books2Read | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub

Also Available

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Book Excerpt

Wearing gloves prevented her from feeling the cold, rough stone against her fingertips, prevented her from feeling close to her little boy. Her tantrum melted as she knelt by the grave. “He was only five.”

“I truly am sorry for you.”

Laurel turned at the sympathy in his voice. His eyes echoed the sentiment. “Have you ever lost a child, Quinn?”

“No. I never wed.” He fidgeted with the bottom button on his coat, looking as though he expected it to pop off. “I nearly married. My fiancée died during the war.”

“And you’ve never fallen in love again?” What was she doing by asking such a question? “I’m sorry. I had no right to be so forward.”

In the ensuing silence, she rose from the ground and brushed from her black gloves the dirt that had gathered in the crevices of her baby’s name.

About the Author

As the author of reader-described heartwarming historical and contemporary romance, Sandra Ardoin engages readers with page-turning stories of love and faith.

She is the married mother of a young adult and co-sitter for a granddog. As well as being a team member in her church's library, she reads Christian fiction, binges TV shows with her husband, and seldom says no to eating out. 

Visit her at sandraardoin.com. Connect with her on BookBub, Facebook, X, and Goodreads. Subscribe to the newsletter and keep up with what’s new, discover what’s upcoming, and learn of specials.

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Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon eGift Card and two (2) ebooks of their choice from Sandra Ardoin’s Published Books!

(1) winner will receive three (3) ebooks of their choice from Sandra Ardoin’s Published Books!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight August 25, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on September 1, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Noble By Mesu Andrews

Noble

by Mesu Andrews

Publisher: Bethany House

Series: King David's Wives

ISBN: 978-0764242625

Mesu Andrews is such a powerful story teller and brings her characters to life in an incredible way! I was on her launch team for Noble and her publisher sent me her book for review.

Summary:

Princess Maakah of Geshur is duty-bound to create a political alliance for her father through marriage. The cancellation by King Saul of her betrothal to his fourth-born son compels Maakah's father to send her to the rebel David ben Jesse, a shepherd-warrior anointed years earlier as Israel's future king, to propose a marriage between them. Taken aback by stories of David's ferocity and lowly birth, Maakah considers the match a degrading fate but obeys her father's wishes out of duty as her nation's only heir. 

To her relief, David rejects the offer of marriage, but circumstances make it impossible for Maakah to return home, and she must stay with David's people until it is safe for her to travel again. Facing prejudice and suspicion from the Israelites, Maakah navigates the delicate balance between her noble heritage and her growing respect for David's faith and leadership. In a land torn by war and divided loyalties, she must choose where her allegiance lies: with her Geshurite people, or with an extraordinary destiny alongside David that beckons her from within.

My Review:

Going back to Biblical times in a fictional setting is always a favorite escape!

First, the amount of research the author must've done for Noble blows my mind. Reading Noble has caused me to go back to Scripture time and time again. Writing a story about such an important man in the Bible is a hefty call! Writing about numerous wives isn't one I'd want to take on.

While the story was a bit "slow" in the beginning (we're getting to know Maakah and her awful maid Zulat) and how (or if) she'll fit into this family, but the pace picks up halfway through and drew me in. It was easy to see how David might find her appealing while frustrating at the same time. lol Maakah definitely challenged him. Her parents left a LOT to be desired and so did her maid.

I'll admit that it's hard to read a fictional account where no one around David warns him away from another marriage or reminds him of God's commands. Considering he married numerous wives, I would imagine it was encouraged more than discouraged. He never asks the priest to cast lots on this matter, but does so for other reasons.

I still loved Nomy in this book as much as I did the first one. Abigail is just as sweet the first time. I don't care what century we're in, multiple wives just makes me cringe. I would NOT have done well in those times so I can see how it can be a struggle in so many ways for each of the wives.

Maakah was an interesting characters. She's young and while trained up to be a princess, she's still rather immature. It comes out in a variety of ways, but Abigail and Nomy truly seem to care for her almost immediately. While I could see her coming under the wings of both of David's wives, it was hard to see her as another wife.

Of course, we have to keep in mind that this is fiction. We have no way of knowing exactly what transpired, what David's motivations were, discussions that were had, etc. This is an author's fictional account of a real time in history! I found a lot of quotable moments in the story that really stuck with and spoke to my heart.

About the Author:

Mesu Andrews is a Christy Award-winning, bestselling author of biblical novels and devotional studies, whose deep understanding of and love for God's Word brings the Bible alive for readers. Her heritage as a "spiritual mutt" has given her a strong yearning to both understand and communicate biblical truths in powerful stories that touch the heart, challenge the mind, and transform lives. Mesu lives in Indiana with her husband, Roy, where she stays connected with her readers through newsy emails, blog posts, and social media. Visit her at MesuAndrews.com.