Just Enough Rope: The Celebrate Lit Blog Tour and Giveaway of Preacher on the Run

About the Book

Book: Preacher on the Run: The Truth Will Hold Its OwnAuthor: Jayna BaasGenre: Christian Historical FictionRelease Date: April 12, 2020STANDING FOR TRUTH COULD COST HIM HIS FREEDOM. FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM COULD COST HIM HIS LIFE.It’s 1771, and North Carolina is at war. On one side stands the power of the Crown. On the other side stands a dangerous freedom of conscience.Former circuit rider Robert Boothe has spent the last four years leading the tyrant-hating Regulators against North Carolina’s corrupt British government. All he wants is a safe place for his little Baptist church to worship God.But when Colonel Charles Drake arrives in town, Robert becomes a target. The Church of England wants him to shut up. The governor wants him dead.Now Robert’s church and family are caught in the crossfire. And that safe place is farther and farther away.

Click here to get your copy!





Book Review

When I read the plotline for this book, I was intrigued. I know very little about pre-Revolutionary War colonies, and less about North Carolina during that time. And so I was excited to start reading Preacher on the Run.

I have mixed feelings about the book. I loved the historical aspects of the novel, and it’s clear that Baas did extensive research for this novel. The characters are likeable, and there is a strong thread of faith throughout.

I will admit, I had a really hard time getting into this book. Baas included enough storylines to keep a reader turning the pages, but there were times that I felt certain conflicts were resolved way too quickly that I lost interest. Even when things would start out bad, it would end up going the main characters’ way, at least in the beginning.

The second half of the novel, however, the story started to move quicker, and I became more invested. It just took a long time for me to get there. And it could be because this story was just not my cup of tea, and that’s okay. It might be yours, and that’s why I would this book for people who love historical fiction, and those who specifically love learning about the American colonies.

I had received a copy of the book as part of the Celebrate Lit Blogging Team and was required to give an honest review.

About the Author

Jayna Baas, pronounced as in “baa, baa, black sheep,” is the author of Preacher on the Run and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network. She lives in northern Michigan with a great family of real people and the family of pretend people who live in her head. (Yes, she does know her characters are not real. No, she does not want you to tell them she said so.) Although she enjoys multiple genres, her favorite story is this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Learn more and sign up for a free short story at www.booksbyjayna.com.

More from Jayna

Freedom is risky. If people are free to make up their own minds, they might discover they’ve been lied to. They might discover the truth and then act on it, and they just might turn the world upside down.

That’s a story that’s been happening ever since Christ freed his first followers from the law of sin and death. They shared that freedom all over their world, and the hierarchy didn’t like it, from the Pharisees on up to Nero. It’s a story that happens over and over again. And it happened in eighteenth-century North Carolina.

Almost all of the Thirteen Colonies had an official state-sanctioned church that could banish, imprison, or even execute those who did not conform. The most common “state church” in the southern colonies was the Church of England, and that’s what we find in North Carolina at the time of Preacher on the Run.

Imagine you’re a dissenter preacher in this time and place. Up the street is the local vestry, which you’re taxed to support, while you’ve been threatened with jail for preaching without a license. One of your church members is about to be dispossessed for not paying taxes—taxes he can’t afford and has probably already paid once. No one dares go to court; everyone knows the courts are nests of extortion, and you could be charged with felony if you stay at a meeting after an official deems it seditious.

Now the governor’s new agent comes to town—a man who is hungry for power, a man who knows you’re a leader not only in your congregation but also in the grassroots resistance that is rising against the government’s corruption. To him, your belief that people can go to God directly through faith in Christ without the state church is blasphemous. And your belief that all men are on equal footing before God and the law is unthinkably dangerous.

What would you do?

This is a scenario that set my story-loving imagination on fire. This is the story of Preacher on the Run. It’s the story of a spark that ignited and spread throughout the colonies until it was a blaze of revolution—not the rejection of authority but the restoration of rightful authority. It’s the story of countless men and women who faced persecution on American soil for the sake of truth and freedom. Truth never needs to be forced on others, because it can never truly be defeated. And only where there is freedom can truth flourish and spread and turn the world upside down. Because, as Robert Boothe says in Preacher on the Run, the truth will hold its own.

This is his story, and ours.

Blog Stops

Alena Mentink, September 14

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, September 14

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 15

Texas Book-aholic, September 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 17

Connie’s History Classroom, September 18

The Book Club Network, September 19

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 20

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 21

Books I’ve Read, September 21

Cover Lover Book Review, September 22

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, September 23

Simple Harvest Reads, September 24 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

For Him and My Family, September 25

Little Homeschool on the Prairie, September 26

Holly’s Book Corner, September 27

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jayna is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a signed paperback copy of Preacher on the Run!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Giveaway

3 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for being part of the tour and sharing your honest review, Becca. I love how you chose a line from the book as part of your post title.

  2. I’m very excited to read this. Should be very entertaining. Thanks for hosting.

  3. This sounds like a great read.

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