Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all 33 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS with Stop #1 at Lisa Bergren’s site.
• The hunt is BEST VIEWED using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer)
• It is open to INTERNATIONAL entrants.
• PRIZES include 3 sets of all 32 books, $500 in Amazon gift cards and many authors are offering additional prizes!
• There is NO RUSH to complete this hunt—you have ALL WEEKEND. So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books you might want to learn more about!
• Submit your ENTRY for the GRAND PRIZE at Stop #33 (back on Lisa’s site) by Monday night (4/25) at midnight mountain.

It is my honor to host the amazing Sandra Byrd. I’m so glad I got to host Sandra for this scavenger hunt as it allowed me to get to know her a bit better–and to know that I want to read her books! Thanks, Sandra!

Summary of the book:

An unforgettable romance set in Victorian England, Bride of A Distant Isle is the engrossing story of Annabel Ashton, who fights to save her family home and her mother’s honor while trying to figure out if the man she loves wants her—or just wants to use her to achieve his own ambitions.

Miss Annabel Ashton is a teacher at the Rogers School for Young Ladies in Winchester when she takes a brief visit to her family home, Highcliffe Hall at Milford-on-Sea. She believes her stay will be short but soon learns that she will not be returning to the safety of the school. Instead, she remains at Highcliffe, at the mercy of her cousin, Edward Everedge.

Annabel protests, but as the illegitimate daughter of a woman who died in an insane asylum, she has little say. Edward is running out of money and puts the house up for sale to avoid financial ruin. He insists that Annabel marry, promising her to a sinister, frightening man. But as the house gets packed for sale, it begins to reveal disquieting secrets. Jewelry, artifacts, and portraits mysteriously appear, suggesting that Annabel may be the true heir of Highcliffe.

She has only a few months to prove her legitimacy, perhaps with assistance from the handsome but troubled Maltese Captain Dell’Acqua. But does he have Annabel’s best interests at heart?

And then, a final, most ominous barrier to both her inheritance and her existence appears: a situation neither she nor anyone else could have expected. Will Annabel regain her life and property—and trust her heart—before it’s too late?

Sandra tells us a little about The Feast of St. James

Oysters and Pearls and Seafaring Heroes

Sandra Byrd

The Feast of St. James is an important celebration in the traditional Christian calendar, especially in sea-going countries such as England. Too, before his martyrdom, traditions claim James visited Spain, bringing the gospel message with him.

Fisheaters.com tells us, “…tradition picks up again by telling us that James’s relics were translated to Spain (of course, legends grew surrounding the event, one strange and lovely one in particular apparently meant to explain why the cockleshell is St. James’s emblem.

It is said that when the Saint’s relics were being conveyed by ship from Jerusalem and approached the coast of Portugal, a man happened to be riding his horse on the beach. The horse disobediently plunged into the sea, with its rider, making for the boat. They sank, of course, but then rose again, covered with scallop shells, and hence the cockleshell became the symbol of our hero).”

St. James is the patron Saint of Spain, but was also dear to Christians in England, including the characters in my new book; the hero and heroine are each from families dependent upon the high seas. Fisheaters.com continues, “…the people of England who couldn’t make the pilgrimage to St. James’s shrine would gather up seashells, bits of broken colored glass, pretty stones, and flowers and such and would build little grottoes in honor of St. James on his Feast. It is also customary for the English to eat oysters that day… In France, it is not the oyster that is eaten, but the scallop – named “Coquilles St. Jacques” – “shells of St. James” – in his honor.

Scallop in Shell

Here’s a tiny excerpt from Bride of a Distant Isle, and please visit my website, your next stop on the scavenger hunt, for an open-your-own-oyster and pearl giveaway!

            “I’ve eaten too many oysters,” I admitted. “You know it’s been said that whoever eats them on Saint James’ Day shall never want. At this moment, I feel I shall never want of another oyster.”

            He laughed and led me toward an arrangement of chairs near the Edge of the World, where we could best see the horizon, the cloud-pebbled sky as it married the bright water. I did not look down, though, where quicksand waited to catch whoever fell in its malevolent arms.

            “You are so partial to oysters?”

            “No,” I admitted. “Though I can better tolerate the ones doused in garlic and butter.”

            “Why so many, then?” He waited for me to settled down, comfortably, on the best of the small group of seats assembled.

            “Pearls, Captain Dell’Acqua. Chef has told me one must open at least 100 oysters to find a pearl. Every year I try to find one.”

Sandra Byrd has published four dozen books in the fiction and nonfiction markets, including her two historical series with Howard Books. For nearly two decades, Sandra has shared her secrets with the many writers she edits, mentors, and coaches. She lives in the Seattle, Washington area. www.sandrabyrd.com

Here’s the Stop #6 Skinny:

You can order Sandra’s book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD or at your local bookstore!

Clue to Write Down: but it is the

Link to Stop #7, the Next Stop on the Loop: Sandra Byrd’s own site!

WAIT! DON’T GO! THERE’S AN ADDITIONAL PRIZE:

You can win a $25 Amazon gift card!

All you have to do is sign up to get my e-newsletter (Go to www.lynetteeason.com and scroll to the bottom right hand corner) or note that you’re already a subscriber. Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of the hunt!

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