Sherry Ann Miller
"writer of miracles"
Books coming in 2007:
coming in April 2007
Mama's Lemon Pie ~ a celebration of motherhood ~
coming in April 2007
coming in August 2007
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2006 Releases:
My Books:
The Refiner's Gift coming in 2007
Love Notes:
Scottish Legend coming in 2007
Other Books:
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Mama's Lemon Pie online version
An Angel’s Gift
Ed Sparkleman meets his match when Alyssa drops in on the Bar M Ranch (literally!) and disrupts his life forever. As ranch foreman, Ed is responsible for keeping his men in order, but with Alyssa around, all the ranch hands begin to act oddly out of character . . .especially Ed. Is Alyssa truly An Angel’s Gift sent straight to him from heaven? If so, what about his brother, Abbot?
An Angel's Gift placed first in the national Write Touch Readers' Awards, 2004; tied for first place in the Beacons Awards for Published Authors, 2004; and placed fourth in the Utah Heart of the West Competition, 2003. An Angel's Gift is the second installment in the five-book Gift Series.
Granite Publishing ISBN# 1-930980-98-1
An Angel's Gift
Sneak Peek:
Chapter One
Early Monday morning, Ed Sparkleman put one boot into the stirrup and swung his other up over the back of a palomino stallion named Breeze. From the saddle he made a clicking sound and gave Breeze a gentle nudge with his spurs. Breeze started off in a trot, apparently as anxious as his master to begin the day.
Within seconds Ed had encouraged Breeze into a full gallop. They headed west toward Mountain Meadow, a mile-long stretch of the finest mountain grass in the high Uinta Mountains, where a good share of the herd was grazing.
Unusually warm for June, the sun peeked over Pine Bluff, the eastern mountain range bordering the Bar M Ranch. The sunlight made the dew on the new quaking aspen leaves sparkle like droplets of pure gold. Tall pine trees, interspersed among the aspens, stood like sentinels, as though guarding the meadow from marauders. To his left, a quarter of a mile away, a small plume of smoke wafted heavenward from a camp fire. Down the length of the meadow Ed saw lumps of black Angus cattle stirring about, feeding on the lush emerald grass.
Something in the sky caught Ed's attention and he pulled on the reins. "Whoa!" he said firmly. "Whoa there, Breeze." The stallion responded quickly, coming to a full halt.
Tilting his head back, Ed looked at the sky above Porcupine Ridge. A small yellow plane, probably a Cessna, he decided, was making lazy circles high above him. Ed watched the plane curiously, wondering why the pilot was circling the Bar M. He didn't recognize it as one of Sky Patrol's planes.
Ed would know if there was a rescue mission in progress because he was always one of the first to be called out. He owned his own helicopter, but because he also managed the ranch, he'd had to limit his hours with Sky Patrol to emergency situations.
Ed squinted and grabbed the binoculars from the saddle bag. Putting them up to his eyes, he watched the plane as it circled the Bar M Ranch. It was definitely a Cessna, Ed decided when he scrutinized the insignia on the wings. Then he saw the passenger door open.
What the blazes? thought Ed.
Unexpectedly, someone fell out of the plane, arms out to his side, in a daring free-fall. After a few long minutes, the jumper pulled his arms close to his body, and attempted to deploy the parachute, but it failed to open.
Ed stood up in the stirrups, an anxious knot in his belly. The jumper's arms flailed and he descended like a bucking bullet, but the parachute did not open. He watched in horror as the jumper tugged at something across his chest repeatedly, but the chute refused to cooperate.
"Pull the secondary!" Ed yelled, even though he knew he would never be heard.
Suddenly a gust of wind, blowing across the eastern summit of Porcupine Ridge, swept the jumper farther west. The parachutist slipped behind the mountain and out of view.
Ed swung the binoculars around and watched the camp. His three ranch hands were shouting to one another and two of them mounted their horses. Satisfied they, too, had seen the jumper, Ed tugged the reins to the right and yelled, "Git up!" while spurring the stallion sharply in the flanks. Breeze responded with a sudden lurch and galloped up the switchback path that led to the top of Porcupine Ridge. A spray of loose rock was kicked away by the palomino's hooves as he climbed the steep mountainside. It took them twenty minutes to reach the top, and Breeze was sweating from the effort. Ed heard his men not far behind him, following up the switchback trail.
From the top of Porcupine Ridge, Ed stopped long enough to search the steep terrain on the opposite side with his binoculars. A blue and white fabric was tangled in some trees several hundred yards down the mountainside.
Yelling at Breeze again, they started down toward a clump of tall pine trees where the parachute was tangled. This side of Porcupine Ridge was not as well traveled, and there was less loose rock to impede their progress. Within a few minutes the stallion had carried Ed to a spot just below the parachute.
Ed looked up. The fabric was tangled in the pine trees, but the ropes tethered to it were dangling free, but the jumper was not attached. Ed looked around quickly, on the ground. A little farther down, behind a mound of scrub oak, almost camouflaged in the underbrush, he saw a pair of white boots facing toe down, with a pair of legs still attached.
Ed slipped from the saddle and ran over to the jumper. About the same time, he heard horses being reined in behind him.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Luke, the youngest of the two ranch hands, a native American with a heart as big as all outdoors. He grabbed Breeze’s reins in his hand and held the palomino stallion in check for Ed.
"Is that fella’ dead?" asked Sidekick John as he slung a leg over the saddle and jumped down.
"I don't know," said Ed. He turned the body over, being careful to keep the neck aligned properly, then he removed the blue and silver helmet. "For one thing," he observed, taking in a breath of surprise. "She ain't a fella’!’"
Purchase An Angel's Gift, second installment in the five-book Gift Series, at your favorite bookseller now,
and read the rest of the story!
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The award-winning Gift Series
You’re going to love all five novels in my popular Gift Series. Each book will take you on the individual sojourns of Kayla Dawn Allen and the five men who have influenced her life for good: the Sparkleman boys, Ed, Abbot and Tom, who grew up with Kayla on the Bar M Ranch; and the seafaring Clark twins, Joshua (who loves Kayla more than life itself) and Hans (who is always one step behind in finding his soul-mate). Each novel will plunge you into a miraculous, spine-tingling journey about life, love, heartache and triumphant joy. If you’ve a thirst for suck-you-in adventure, drama, action and romance, you’ll want to read all five novels, which can be read out of sequence without losing continuity. Don't miss a single volume in my award-winning Gift Series:
One Last Gift
Lovely Kayla is rescued
from herself, her misguided infatuation with Ed
Sparkleman,
and even more desperate and dangerous elements in the remarkable One Last Gift.
Kayla’s remarkable journey from her sailboat in San Diego to her
childhood home high in the Uinta Mountains, finds her facing one
obstacle after another, until she finally discovers God’s mighty
miracles are all around her. At the miraculous and satisfying
conclusion, you will be left with the question, “What about Ed?”
One Last Gift placed third in the national Beacons Awards for Published Authors, 2001.
Granite Publishing ISBN# 1-930980-01-9
The Tyee’s Gift
Set in the picturesque
Pacific Northwest, adventure meets Abbot Sparkleman when he discovers
the greatest
archaeological site of the century
and falls in love with the beautiful and mysterious Bekah. The
Tyee’s Gift will bring tears of laughter, joy and heartache
while Abbot learns where much is given, much is required.
Granite Publishing ISBN# 1932280758
Charity’s Gift
When Hans comes face to face with a ferocious shark, it strikes less fear than vivacious and attractive Charity, who throws his heart into a spiraling nose-dive deep in the Pacific Ocean. The only way he can salvage their crumbling romance is to find her missing father, who's been absent from Charity's life for more than twenty-five years. Charity'sGift will touch your heart forever.
Charity's Gift is now available!
Debuting in August 2007, The Refiner's Gift is the fifth and final novel in Sherry Ann Miller's award-winning Gift Series. Now in the editing phase, The Refiner's Gift answers the worrisome question, “What about Tom?” who was accused of a vicious crime in the first book of the Gift Series, One Last Gift. Tom Sparkleman has not yet escaped the true consequences of that vicious crime. The story will center on what really happened six years ago, and the terrible truth of that heart-wrenching day will be made manifest. Expect an important shift in the dynamics of the entire Clark/Sparkleman families. The miracles that await Tom and the two clans in The Refiner's Gift will astound everyone!
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If you'd like to Email me with your comments about any of the books above, please put the title in the subject line. In order to qualify for consideration in my FREE BOOK offer, you must include permission to publish your comments and your postal mailing address. Send Emails to:
Sherry Ann Miller "writer of miracles".
Copyright © 10 Jan 2006 by Sherry Ann Miller. All rights reserved.
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