Category: Marguerite Martin Gray

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Right Before Their Eyes by Carrie Walker (Give.away)

9/19/2025

Sometimes the love you need most
looks different than you imagined.

Clare Martin thought nothing of agreeing to live with her dementia-ridden grandmother when her parents left on mission. Balancing that with her job as a social worker and the expectations of her career-driven boyfriend proved doable—until Grandma started a house fire.
Mason Hughes has loved Clare for years, but the time was never right to tell her and now she’s dating someone else, fixing Mason firmly in the friend zone. He’s working to be a pediatric neurologist, a dream inspired by a special boy with a terminal brain condition, and must choose a medical school. Finances are so tight he’s forced to consider a program across the country, a troubling fact he’s kept secret.
Lucia Roberts, a seventeen-year-old on Clare’s caseload, loses her foster home and is placed in an unwelcoming group home. At every turn she’s met with rejection and becomes desperate for any proof she has value—enough to make choices that could affect the rest of her life.
When Grandma Dottie and Lucia’s paths take a dangerous turn, Clare frantically tries to save them. As their lives knit together, will they find the love that’s right before their eyes?

Genre: Romantic Women’s Fiction
Release Date: February 5, 2025

Click here to get your copy!

Interview with Carrie

#1. How long did it take to finish writing this book?
This book I drafted in a couple months, and largely edited in a couple more months. I’ve tweaked it over time, but in general, this book behaved and came together pretty quickly (that’s not always the story lol)

#2. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
My introduction to Christian Fiction was Karen Kingsbury, and I so loved the way she could write a story with a powerful message while also sweeping me away with love stories among her characters. I loved that genre so much, it drew me to write it as well :) I even went to a writing intensive offered by Karen Kingsbury, in hopes of better understanding how she crafts her stories.

#3. What do you hope your readers will take away with them when they read this book?
That God is working. Even when it’s hard to see and you can’t feel it, He is. And sometimes your hard times are what touches another person’s life forever.

#4. How did you name your characters?
This is actually a part of my writing process that I love to include my family and friends in. I’m not the best at coming up with new names to use, and I’ve learned many think it’s extremely fun. Win win. My kids named most of the characters in this book. The foster mom, Kris Petersen, my sister named because that character’s personality is based upon my sister (at her request to be in one of my books lol).

#5. Tell us a little about yourself, your family, friends.
I am someone who you might call an “old soul”... one of those people who growing up all the parents wanted me to help keep an eye on their kids lol Even now as an adult, I avoid drama, have strong intuition that is rarely wrong and strong faith. I’m married to my high school sweet heart (25 years this summer) and we have 7 kids. We love to travel to new places and experience life together. We also have a number of close friends we’ve collected over the years who we often see for board game nights or just to visit.

More from Carrie

When I was writing “Emma’s Hero” I had a few readers that took an early peek at it, before it was completed. More than once, I was informed “This is not the only book, right?” And so, this story was a reality in my mind, before it was even thought of. This book just was. And the characters helped tell the story. Mason grew a lot in Emma’s Hero, but he has a lot more growing to do, especially in the realm of relationships, communication and figuring out how to live this newfound faith. Grandma Dottie is a character inspired by a combination of both my grandmothers, and there is a story she tells to Mason almost halfway through the story that is a true story borrowed from my own grandparents That’s all I’m telling you, you’ll have to find it. But I just love that a part of their love story made it into mine.

Carrie Walker

Carrie Walker lives in Michigan with her husband and seven children. From her ten years serving as a high school youth minister, adventures around the globe, and raising a family, many stories have been knit within her heart.
As an avid reader she pens what she loves to read, contemporary stories that bring hope to a hurting world. Weaving romance among story lines of characters in struggle, she aims to show God working in all situations. When she’s not playing board games with her husband, shuttling kids in the Walker bus or wishing for snow, Carrie can be found at the keyboard bringing those stories to life.

Carrie’s writing has been recognized in many contests. Her debut novel, Emma’s Hero, won the IAN Book of
the Year for Christian Fiction, was a double finalist in the International Book Awards, placed in the ACFW
Crown Award, Monroe Walton Center for the Arts Award, and won the 2020 ACFW First Impressions Contest.

It's Time For A Giveaway!

To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away the grand prize of
a $40 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54296

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 11
Stories By Gina, September 12 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy , September 13
Simple Harvest Reads, September 14 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, September 15 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, September 15
Guild Master, September 16 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, September 17
Fiction Book Lover, September 18 (Author Interview)
Tell Tale Book Reviews, September 19 (Author Interview)
Blossoms and Blessings, September 20 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 21
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, September 22 (Author Interview)
A Reader’s Brain , September 23 (Author Interview)
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 24 (Author Interview)
The Bookish Pilgrim, September 24

4 Comments

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Labor Of Love by Marguerite Martin Gray (Giveaway)

3/31/2022

6 Comments

Something sinister lurks in Pitti Palace.

Despite having spent eight years as companion to her cousins, Ana Geovani still questions her role and place in the Medici household. This uncertainty compounds and alarms as her cousin’s marriage approaches and a marriage is arranged for Ana.

With no say in her own future, fear and despair dulls even the splendor of the gardens she holds so dear.

As the newest under gardener at the palace, Marco Rossi should have everything he’s dreamed of–beautiful gardens to tend and master architects and gardeners to learn from. Yet a secret mission threatens his peace of mind, his position, and even the love of Ana. Although God is always with him, reminding him of a bigger plan, Marco feels the weight of the consequences he will face if he challenges a Medici member.

The desires of men and women, both royal and common, create costly dilemmas and potential disasters of hearts and souls. What will it take for Marco and Ana to prevail against everything driving them apart?

Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: February 15, 2022

Click here to get your copy!

Interview with Marguerite Martin Gray

Thank you for interviewing me about my new release. I’m excited to be with you.

#1. What was the inspiration for this book?
This is the first book in the Gardens in Time Series. I LOVE gardens and gardening. As a teen I traveled with my family all over Europe. The historical, cultural, and architectural aspects of the castles, churches, and houses left a permanent imprint on my life. I ran around the Boboli Gardens of Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy with my sisters, experiencing the beauty through the senses of a youth. As an adult, I have returned to the alleys and paths of the gardens, soaking up the historical images lurking around every corner. It was my first choice for this series because of my fond, vivid memories of roaming the paths like Ana does in Labor of Love.

#2. How long did it take to finish writing this book?
After three months of extensive research (a total of 20 sources), I spent three months writing it on 11 legal notepads. Yes, I am a pen and paper writer. Then I input it on the computer which turned into an edit. When it was ready for an outside edit, I sent it to my professional editor. Next, I had a few readers who critiqued it before I sent it to my publisher. To answer your question, I finished writing it in about six months before the editing process, which almost never ends.

#3. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
This book is historical fiction. My father is an architect with historical preservation tendencies. When we lived in England, he took us to every church, cemetery, castle, and manor house, or at least it seemed that way. I learned the history of the structures from real life experience as well as from books and pictures. As an adult, I gravitated to historical fiction beginning with James A. Michener. The Christian aspect came with Lori Wick. I cannot get enough of historical fiction. I’m an avid reader who has added reviewing and writing to the mixture. Writing in this genre came naturally, although I’m not opposed to reading and writing contemporary fiction.

#4. How did you name your characters?
Since Labor of Love is set in 1560 Italy, I chose names that would have been from that era. The historical figures have their real names: Cosimo, Eleanora, Lucrezia, Isabella, Pedro, etc. My heroine is Ana. I wanted something simple that the reader could pronounce but that would be appropriate for the period. My hero is Marco, also a strong Italian name that an English-speaking reader could remember. I researched last names and came up with Geovani and Rossi. I love names and foreign languages.

#5. Tell us a little about yourself, your family, friends.
I have three sisters who are my best friends. Being the oldest of the lot—which by the way is the best position—I’ve enjoyed my role of leader, instigator, encourager, dragon slayer, and protector. Our motto is “cradle to grave.”
My husband of many years is my number one, well number one everything! I’ve enjoyed doing life with him and our two grown children. Every day is a blessing and an interesting piece of the puzzle, making the journey together full of blessings.

#6. What one piece of advice would you like to give readers?
As a reader myself before being a writer, I follow this motto about why I read: Entertain. Encourage. Educate. If you can find a novel that entertains, encourages, and educates, you have a spectacular journey ahead of you.

Thank you once again for spending time with me.
Blessings to each reader as you find purpose in the pages.

More from Marguerite

Are you a gardener? My mom calls me the accidental gardener. Is there such a thing? Well, I threw a pumpkin off my deck into a flower bed in December. By March, I had a garden full of beautiful, big pumpkins and luscious vines.

I love the idea of gardening, although I’m not very successful with my planting and grandiose plans. I stick with zinnias, potatoes, and onions. But I admire all kinds of gardens—flower and vegetable. Gardens are full of surprises—zingers in my ordinary life.

From the beauty of organized formal gardens like Versailles and Boboli to quaint, colorful English gardens, I relish the assault to all the senses. I’m refreshed, renewed, and relaxed just by being in a garden.

The birth of my Gardens in Time series arose from my travels. Labor of Love, set in the Boboli Gardens in Florence, springs from memories of wonder and beauty as I roamed the avenues and paths as a child and then an adult. I never had the adventures of Ana as she struggles and grows in the court of the Medici, but I walked in the Medici’s steps and let my imagination journey with Ana. She now has her own story.

I hope that you can experience some of the awe and amazement through Ana’s wanderings. I invite you to roam the Boboli Gardens with Ana.

Marguerite Martin Gray

Marguerite enjoys the study of history, especially when combined with fiction. An avid traveler and reader, she teaches French and Spanish and has degrees in French, Spanish, and Journalism from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and a MA in English from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. She has two grown children and currently lives with her husband in north Louisiana. She writes historical fiction.