GLASS ANGELS, Book 4 of the Family Heirlooms Series by Karen Wiesner

A young Christian woman struggles with seeking pardon from those she's hurt when she can't seem to get past her own inability to forgive those who have wronged her. 

Three years ago, Samantha Samuels had suffered under the violent hands of Ryder Feldmann, a juvenile delinquent her pastor father had been counseling. Now she's completed her psychiatry training and plans to help other victims of violent crimes at the rape counseling clinic in her hometown of Peaceful, Wisconsin.

Unexpectedly, she finds herself sharing an office building and Sunday services at her new church with the older brother, a divorce counselor, of her attacker...the very man she'd been in love with before her rape. 

In the time since Kyle Feldmann's brother was jailed for his crime against Samantha, he's lived with the torment of all he's lost because of his sibling. Before the tragedy that stole Samantha from him and destroyed his dreams, Kyle had begged her to risk her father's disappointment and elope with him. Seeing Samantha again after so many years, being near her, only puts him right back where he was before the rape. Kyle wants to heal Samantha, love her, and fulfill the dreams he grieved the loss of—by marrying her. But how can they be together forever when she's still so broken? 

All her life, Samantha had wanted her father's approval, but his selfish part in putting her in a dangerous situation has led her to a painful place of desperately needing to forgive him and her attacker...and being unable to in all the time since the traumatic event that ripped her life in two. As she gives her heart to Kyle once more, her already fractured relationship with the Lord is tested. In the crossfire of faith, she wonders if glass angels shatter beyond recognition when they take a leap of faith, or if they can heal and become stronger than ever before. 

5 hearts and Sweetheart Award nominee from The Romance Studio

5 stars from Readers Favorite

4 1/2 red roses from Red Roses for Authors Reviews

Read an excerpt: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/GAexcerpt.pdf

Find out more: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction9.html 

Samantha and Kyle's story has been inside me for a very long time, and when it was finally done, I couldn't have been more thrilled. They've both been through so much—in their personal lives and in their romance, so working them toward a happily ever after…especially after the traumatic incidents that closed Book 3 of the series, Foolish Games, was so satisfying for me. 

Samantha has one of the worst things imaginable happen to her—she's raped by the brother of the man she loves. But she's a fighter. Though initially it's a situation she can't handle, when she and her friend open the Glass Angels rape clinic, she's become a stronger person. Glass as a material is contradictory—hard enough to be a tool or a weapon yet utterly fragile. Samantha feels she is a glass angel: fragile, transparent, broken into sharp pieces that cut her with every memory. Even though Samantha had been shattered by what happened to her, she realizes that she can be stronger than she was before—stronger despite and because of what happened to her. Samantha has to deal with an issue that so many people struggle with—forgiving someone who doesn't deserve forgiveness. I think it's a powerful book that hopefully can change lives.

Baby, Baby, Book 1, Shadow Boxing, Book 2, and Foolish Games, Book 3 were previously published by another publisher. When things didn't work out the way I was hoping there, I took the whole series to Whiskey Creek Press, who bought all six books at once. Because my fans were waiting so long for Book 4, we decided to release Glass Angels first, then quickly re-issue the first three Books in the series in short order afterward. 

The premise of my Family Heirlooms Series is how nuggets of faith can be passed down as family heirlooms from parent to child, sibling to sibling, spouse to spouse. The romance series is based on the Samuels family siblings. Book 1 has Tamara Samuels-Wolfe and her husband Robert. Book 2 includes Joshua Samuels and his wife Justine. Book 3 (which will be reissued in July 2011) is about Peter Samuels and Kimberly Wolfe (Robert's younger sister). Glass Angels continues with Samantha Samuels and Kyle Feldmann. Upcoming books in the series include Shards of Ashley, Book 5, will have Jay Samuels and Ashley Savage (coming September 2011) and Worlds Collide, Book 6, will round out the series with medical missionaries Marcus Samuels and Keiko Oichi (coming March 2012). 

I fell in love with so many of the secondary characters in my Family Heirlooms Series that I came up with book ideas for two of those characters, sold them as non-series novels, but then realized I had a lot more tales to tell that connected with but didn't really fit in as part of the Family Heirlooms Series. The Friendship Heirlooms Series originated from there. Return to the quaint little town of Peaceful, Wisconsin, from my award-winning Family Heirlooms Series, where you first met and fell in love with these colorful, lovable friends. Now you can read the stories of those secondary characters in an all-new spin-off series. Nuggets of faith can be passed down as heirlooms from friend to friend, heart to heart, soul-mate to soul-mate. Check out this upcoming series (including back blurbs, covers, and details) here: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction9a.html

Check out the interview of GLASS ANGELS at The Romance Reviews.