The Garden Key A PRECIOUS GIFT wrapped up in this DEBUT NOVEL

(Recently, I read an awesome book by first-time author Angela Dolbear. I have been changed by it and want to share it with all of you. As a matter of fact, I want to shout about it from the rooftops! But for now...this blog wili suffice! Love, Ellen)

The Garden Key, by Angela Dolbear, is a book that could literally change the world. I can say with all honesty that if every man and woman on the planet read this book and let its words sink deep into their souls; when they opened their eyes the following day, they would be transformed. Changed into people who love. Really love. And in a real sense, The Garden Key is about real love.

Told in first person, in a voice that I fell in love with immediately, The Garden Key sweeps you into the protagonist’s life; so much so, you feel like part of her story. You experience her joy, her triumph, her failures and her desire for redemption. And because the author walks so closely with God, it is impossible to not be encouraged in your own faith as you travel through novel-time with the main character.

Promos for The Garden Key entice the reader with comical, tongue-in-cheek, real-life phrases, dialogue and emotions. Honestly, I was convinced by one line from the web site which said something about ‘lust and cheeseburgers.’ But rest assured, the promises on the back cover can be trusted absolutely. As I read this book, I did indeed laugh often, and I cried with joy aplenty. I wept most when I reached the last page—do you know why? Because the novel ended.

Selfishly, I wanted it to go on and on and never conclude. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed this book so much (it was literally un-put-down-able), that when I got to the last 30 pages, I forced myself to stop reading. I would not pick it up for fear of finishing it. For over a week, I peeked at it next to my desk, carried it to my room to peek at it as I went to sleep—but I would not read on. I was terrified to see the last page. I was horrified that this wonderful, sweet, delightful, insightful and encouraging book was about to be finished. I have never read a book like this and I thank God that he led me to read it now. I have no doubt in my mind that I will read it over again many times.

And thankfully, the author hinted that she would write another. Praise the Lord.

Ellen C Maze, author Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider

RECONCILING VAMPIRES: God abhors the drinking of blood

That is actually the main underlying theme of the series. The secular world is eating up the vampire lore, but rarely do they touch on the biblical world view when it comes to vampires and their ilk. In THE JUDGING, the reader knows Mark Corescu as a 200-yr old vampire who sucks blood for sustenance. But the deeper meaning, that is not obvious but woven throughout the book with the aid of the God-fearing character Tony Agricola, is that in THE JUDGING, vampirism is a demonic manifestation that transforms the protagonist into the likeness of a vampire. As soon as the vampire realizes that he is outside the will of God, he must choose (like all of us once we realize that we have been duped by the devil) whether to give up his earthly reign as god on earth and choose to be a servant of the Most High God, or remain as he is and be doomed for eternity. The similies and parables abound-- we do not drink blood, but we sin. We build earthly treasures by the heaping moundfuls, but will we choose God over these material things and earthly power? THE JUDGING is entertaining to anyone who loves a vampire yarn, but because it is written by a Believer, it carries an underlying Truth: only God saves. And God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.