Finding Heaven Media Kit

Tag Line:

Sometimes to find heaven, you have to go through hell…

Super-Short Description:

Sarah Daniels feels trapped in a living hell until a new friend offers a chance at a different future. But is it too late for Sarah to find heaven?

Short Description:

Sometimes to find heaven, you have to go through hell…

Author Sarah Daniels thinks she deserves her hellish life. Then she meets Steve, a compassionate humanitarian who is everything she’s never known. But she couldn’t possibly deserve the undemanding love he offers. Besides, he must be hiding something, just like everyone else. Can Sarah be saved, or is it too late for her to find heaven?

Long Description:

Sometimes to find heaven, you have to go through hell…

Sarah appears to have the perfect life—she’s made sure of it. But behind the façade, her respected lawyer husband abuses her, she hates writing the books that have made her a success, and she is tortured by demons from her childhood. When she receives a cancer diagnosis, her carefully constructed lies begin to crumble.

Then she has a chance encounter with Steve, a compassionate humanitarian who is everything she’s never known—selfless, honourable, and supportive. But even though he keeps showing up right when she needs him, she couldn’t possibly deserve the undemanding love he offers. Besides, a good-looking single guy like him must be hiding something, just like everyone else.

Can Sarah be saved, or is it too late for her to find heaven?

Finding Heaven is a standalone gripping emotional page-turner about second chances and redemptive love.

"A riveting, true-to-life tale of love's power to heal and redeem." -  Melissa Keaster, author of Eleora

Content warning: Contains violence, intense scenes relating to sexual abuse, and themes not appropriate for young readers.

Keywords:

Family life, friendship, marriage, loss, second chance, inspirational, romantic suspense.

Romantic women's fiction, domestic thriller, childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, sex trafficking, human trafficking, survivor, Canada, Alberta, San Francisco, Mumbai, Edmonton, India, United States of America, USA, faith-based fiction, inspirational, Christian,

Author Bio (Short):

Talena Winters writes page-turning books, empowering knitting patterns, a blog, and musical theatre, plus edits other people’s work—all while drinking copious amounts of caffeine in all forms. She is addicted to silver linings and wants to be a mermaid when she grows up.

Author Bio (Long):

For more about Talena Winters, please see her author media kit.

Reviews:

Advance praise for Finding Heaven:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Melissa Keaster, author of Eleora:

A riveting, true-to-life tale of love's power to heal and redeem. 

In her latest novel, Finding Heaven, Talena Winters doesn't pull any punches. Despite being a romance, parts of the story are as gritty as real life. Sarah Daniels' journey represents many of our own. Underneath the pretty, pulled-together packaging of a fairytale is a soul in ruins believing the lies we know too well. When Sarah meets Steve McGuire—a regular guy whose life's work is to help the vulnerable, abused, and oppressed—she feels trapped in her unhappy existence, but Steve inspires her to make a change. One change leads to another. Helped along by the unconditional love of friends, Sarah embraces an uncertain future and discovers an inner strength she didn't know she had. Her story brings the reader through shocking reality and hellish lows, but these make the victory of finding heaven all the sweeter. 

Though I haven't experienced the depth of Sarah's suffering, I know it in part. Reading her thoughts were like reading my own. We believed the same lies; even after much time and healing, I continued to believe some of them. As Steve was for Sarah, God used this story as an agent of change and healing in my life, for which I'm unspeakably grateful.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Kristin Dyck, Editor of Mile Zero News:

One of the most beautifully written books I have read.

The author had me laughing aloud and openly crying along with the main character. There's a message of hope and love weaved intricately into the book that kept me wanting to read more. I sometimes find long books a challenge to get through, but this one I couldn't put down. Ultimately, this is a book that is capable of making readers feel, which is what makes it so special.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Kamber Ferriss, reader:

Although Finding Heaven’s subject matter made parts of the story difficult to read, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From the first pages I was caught up in Sarah’s story and interested to see what would happen. The character personalities were quickly developed and believable; some more likeable then others. I enjoyed walking with Sarah along her journey of healing and faith and could empathize with her during the bumps along the way. A moving and beautiful story of accepting who you are, overcoming the past, and embracing the future.

Quotes from the Book:

For the first time in years, she felt a yearning for something different, something real. Something more than the life she had.

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Desire had never done anything good in her life, so she had divorced it years ago.

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Steve gave her a hard stare.

"It’s never too late to make a change. You know that, right?"

---

"Anger—feeling emotions—was dangerous. In an instant, all the heat froze over in terror. She couldn’t be angry. That’s how people got hurt. Ice was safer than fire."

---

His green eyes roved over her body. “Looks okay to me.” He smiled appreciatively, hunger lurking in his eyes.

A normal woman would feel a rush of heat under that look. She had gathered as much from years of girl talk and romance novels. One of her characters would be melting in a puddle of desire. But it only made her more nervous than she already was.

Because I’m a freak. I get crushes on gay men and can’t even be aroused by my own husband.

---

Sarah felt a twinge of regret. Steve had stirred something in her with his joy and passion for life—something that had been frozen solid for years. She thought about her fleeting desire to live a life of passion like Steve McGuire and shook her head. That was fine for him. But now that she had come home and to her senses, she knew it could never be for her. Especially with so much uncertainty in her future.

Her heart, which for a few brief hours yesterday had been deceived into entertaining hope by the warmth of kindness, was locked back into its lonely ice tower, unreachable and cold.

And safe.

---

Sarah thought she was the lucky one, especially after listening to her friends complain that their husbands or boyfriends never noticed anything they did for them.

What happened to that guy? When did he go from interested in her life to dictating it?

When had she gone from pleasure at his approval to craving it?

---

Steve's laugh was brittle. “Sarah, we all have our own wounds. We’re all broken in our own way. Mine might look different than yours, but they were deep enough to enlarge my heart.”

---

Joanna took a deep breath. “Once I acknowledged that the rape was not my fault, but his, I became terribly angry. My counsellor told me how important it was that I forgive him—not for his sake, and not because he deserved it, but because I did. He explained how bitterness and anger are like acids that eat us from the inside out. They have very little effect on the person that hurt us, if any. But they can change our own lives forever.”

---

She could do this. She was stronger now. This was her chance to prove it.

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Shareable Media:

Book landing page: www.talenawinters.com/finding-heaven

Story behind the book: Behind the Scenes of Finding Heaven

How writing this book helped me grieve my son: Finding Beauty in Brokenness (on author Melissa Keaster's blog)

For shareable image quotes, see the Book Promo Photos page.

Tweets: 

Sarah feels trapped. Is it too late to change? #findingheavennovel #books #womensfiction #romance http://tinyurl.com/yb7mcruq

Gritty and gripping new novel explores healing from sexual abuse. #findingheavennovel #books #csa #survivor http://tinyurl.com/yb7mcruq

"Riveting." @melissa_keaster on Finding Heaven: A Novel. #findingheavennovel #books #csa #survivor http://tinyurl.com/yb7mcruq

Gritty new novel from @TalenaWinters, Finding Heaven. #findingheavennovel #books #amreading http://tinyurl.com/yb7mcruq

Soundtrack playlist inspired by the novel:

Press Release (Also here)

On November 14, 2017, Peace River, Alberta author Talena Winters released her second novel, a story about a woman healing from an abusive past. The book successfully walks the fine line between gritty and delicate, dark and hopeful, as it exposes the realities of the trauma abuse victims must overcome, while optimistically pointing out the way to healing.

Sarah Daniels, the main character, seems to have a successful and happy life—from all appearances, a fairy-tale come true. But look behind the curtain and we very quickly see that Sarah’s life is falling apart—her husband abuses her, her mother manipulates her, and her brother bullies her.

Sarah’s story, while sad, is believable because she is so normal in a completely dysfunctional way. Fortunately, Sarah is offered a way out. A career humanitarian named Steve McGuire—whose life work is helping sex trafficking victims and their children in Mumbai, India—offers her a chance to change her life for the better, and is her greatest supporter in helping her do so.

“My hope is that people who read this book will see that healing from a difficult past is possible, and also have more compassion for those who have come from backgrounds like Sarah’s,” said Winters.

More information about the book and places to buy can be found at www.talenawinters.com/finding-heaven.

Sample Interview Questions:

1. What was your inspiration for Finding Heaven?

2. How did you research locations for the book?

3. This book has strong faith-based elements. Why did you choose not to market it as a Christian book?

4. Do you think there will be a sequel?

Also see this Q & A hosted by author Joy Norstrom on my blog.

Author Contact:

Talena Winters

Web: https://www.talenawinters.com
Email: Please use Contact Form.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/talenawinters.artist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talenawinters
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talenawinters