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Y’all! Today’s featured author just released her fabulous debut novel this week and I am so excited to have her here on the blog!!! We’re going to have so much fun chatting about books and she even brought a giveaway for y’all!!!
About the Author
Mikal Dawn is an inspirational romance author, wedding enthusiast, and proud military wife. By day, she works as an administrative assistant for an international ministry organization, volunteers as a Key Spouse for her husband’s squadron, serves in her church’s library, and drinks lots of coffee.
By night, she pulls her hair out, wrestling with characters and muttering under her breath as she attempts to write. And drinks lots of coffee. When she isn’t writing about faith, fun, and forever, she is obsessively scouring Pinterest (with coffee in hand, of course!) for wedding ideas for her characters.
Mikal lives in Nebraska with her husband, Mark, their three children, and one ferocious feline who can often be found taking over her Instagram account.
website | facebook | twitter | instagram | pinterest
Five Favorite Books of All-Time
Mikal: (This is a HARD question to answer, man!)
Beth: I know it’s hard but you’re off to a great start! I think the inner beauty emphasis makes that story special to me!
Beth: I love a good HEA! I can’t say that I’ve spent a lot of time with the Brothers but I might be tempted to dabble a little in the future, they are classics after all.
Anyway, I love all of Ronie’s books, which is why I can’t list just one. I love the action, the suspense, the action, the very light romance, the action…you get the drift. I also LOVE her covers. Did you know that all the covers on her military novels feature an actual service member? Yep. Love.
Beth: Never a dull moment with you, Mikal, dear! Since we’re talking about Ronie Kendig here, I’ll let it slide because I just met her books with her latest series, The Tox Files, and YES, they are fabulous in every way!
Mikal: Speaking of love…HA! You see where I’m going? Tamara Leigh. She is the queen of romance. That is all.
Beth: YES!!! ???? I need more Tamara Leigh in my life!!! I don’t have any posts for her books on the blog yet, gah! I must fix this ASAP!
Mikal: My last favorite book—can I do it? Dare I say it?—is mine. LOL! Count Me In. I love it because it’s my very first book baby, because the hero is everything I kinda wish I was, and because the heroine is pretty much everything I actually am. Except I’m funnier.
Beth: I DIE!!! You are very funny, lady! And your book SHOULD be on this list because it is FABULOUS! ????
Books
Tell us about your latest release
Mikal: Count Me In is a Christian romantic comedy that I wrote over one summer just last year (2016).
Okay, I did start it months before the summer, but only wrote about 10,000 words by the time summer rolled around. It was fast and furious because I wanted to finish it before the American Christian Fiction Writer’s conference in Nashville in August.
So while my kids were wreaking havoc on our house, I drank lots and lots of coffee, ate lots and lots of Australian licorice (strawberry, thank you kindly), and had word count challenges with author Sarah Monzon. I won the Twizzlers. ???? I do hope you love Tyler and Allegra as much as I do!
Beth: Yummy! I love Twizzlers and ALWAYS strawberry!
Allegra Spencer has been living a careful life. Her safe job as an accountant is bookended by going to church and the gym. Okay, sometimes the gym. Fine. She goes to church. And the coffee shop. She avoids risk at all cost, preferring to stay safe in her cozy condo. Until her accounting firm goes belly up and she’s out of a job.
Tyler Hawk had a glorious career as a star NFL tight end. He retired on a high note and now lives a second dream of owning his own business and leading others on extreme outdoor adventures. But he needs help with his books—and his heart. When Allegra takes the job, sparks fly.
It’s a case of safety zone versus danger zone, and in their minds, never the two shall meet.
goodreads | amazon
Beth: I absolutely DROOL over this cover!!! ???? I adore it and I adore this story!!! my review
What are you working on now?
Mikal: I’m actually in the very early part of brainstorming ideas for book two! This book will feature Bo and Story from Count Me In.
Bo is a former NHL player, and Story works part-time as a figure skating coach. I mean, there must be some humor between a hockey player and figure skater, right?
There’s also some real-life inspiration as my own daughter is a figure skater. I’m having fun gathering some photos, quotes, and inspiration from Pinterest! I even have a rough draft of the cover. WOOHOO! I love book covers.
Beth: CANNOT WAIT!!! Squee! Thank you so much for sharing some of your favorite books and your super exciting book news with us, Mikal!
Giveaway
Mikal Dawn has generously offered to send one fortunate Faithfully Bookish reader a Count Me In ebook!
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Are any of the books Mikal mentioned among your favorites?
Faithfully Bookish 
Well, yes, I would have to say #5 is one of my favorites. 😀 Also, I love Ronie Kendig’s books. I also love Australian strawberry licorice.
What a fun spotlight with two of my favorite, amazing friends (who I have never met in person but plan to remedy that soon!)
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YAY!!! I can’t wait, Winnie!
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I’m SO excited to squeeze your neck–in a non-murderous way, of course–Winnie!!! ❤
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A HUGE FAN of Ronie Kendig’s!! Still trying to grab all her earlier works and gobble them. Never read Tamara Leigh but will have to rectify that soon.
Thanks for the fun interview and giveaway!
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Oh yes, I have an impressive backlist for both between my bookshelves and Kindle! Comforting to know there’s a good book waiting for you when you finish the one you’re reading though, right?! 😉
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YES!!! You need Tamara Leigh in your life. She is phenomenal. And so incredibly sweet!! And for SURE get Ronie’s earlier works. She just re-released Dead Reckoning, which is the book that introduced me to her, and is working on some other re-releases, so make sure to keep an eye out for news from Ronie!
As a side note, Ronie, Tamara, and Melanie Dickerson are leaving for a writer’s retreat in just over two weeks. Keep them in your prayers as they write!! Because we all neeeeeed more TaMeRo books. ❤
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Ah! I replied a few hours ago, but I don’t know if my comment posted. I’m sorry! But YES!!!!! Ronie is AH-MAZING. And please *do* go read some Tamara Leigh books. Or all of them. Preferably all of them. Because Tam is the Queen of romance. ❤
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The Princess and the Pea was one that my daughter always wanted read to her. So yes, that one is up there on top of my list not only for the story but also for the memories. I, also, love fairy tales and especially the Cinderella stories.
I’m excited to read Count Me In and to have a chance to win a copy is awesome.
Thanks for the spotlight and giveaway!
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Aww, what sweet bookish memories! ????
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Oh Kay, that’s wonderful!!! Fairy tales are the *BEST* especially when shared with our daughters. ❤ My girl looooooves fairy tales, which does this reader's heart wonders. ❤
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I recently read my first Ronie Kendig book, Operation Zulu Redemption, and LOVED it! I have a few more of her books in my TBR.
Thank you for the fun interview and giveaway!
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YAY for more great books! 🙂
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Oh Caryl, I LOVED OZR!!! Such a *great* collection! Her newest series, The Tox Files, is also *incredible*. Don’t miss out on that!!
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Yay Mikal!!! Love Cinderella….but Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast are my favorite fairy tales.
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Hey, it’s not my fault Beth limited me to five books!! LOL!!!!! 😉 I DO LOOOOOVE Sleeping Beauty and Beauty & the Beast. SO. VERY. MUCH. I’ve actually been on the lookout for rare, early editions of those books for my “library.” (And thank you, Rachel!!!!!)
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I don’t think I’ve read a single book on Mikal’s list! Sad, I know! There’s a bunch of on my TBR list, though. I’m really excited about Count Me In, and I’m intrigued by Bo & Story’s…story, lol. It reminds me of The Cutting Edge. I love that movie!
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Karen, THANK YOU!!! 😀 And YES! The inspiration definitely comes from that movie (which I adore…and am watching time and again for “research.” 😉 (I’m also paying very close attention to my daughter’s sessions with her figure skating coach! ha!!)
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I’ve read many of Tamara Leigh’s books but I haven’t read this series. I can’t keep up with all the good authors out there and the new ones that I also want to discover.
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Arletta (I love your name, by the way!), I completely feel your pain. LOL!! I don’t have enough hours in the day to read all the books! There are always reports that Christian fiction is on its way out, but judging from the quality and quantity of books that are being written and published–and the very loyal and beautiful readers of Christian fiction–I say this is the *best* time!! ❤
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I need to read Tamara Leigh’s books! Heard so many good things about them. Can’t wait to read yours either!
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Aw, thank you so much, Charis!!! (Love your name, too. Man, there are some GORGEOUS names out there!) As for Tamara, oh, you’ll LOVE her books!!! She is truly phenomenal.
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Actually, none of the books Mikal mentioned are my favorites. However, I haven’t yet read her book or even any of Ronie Kendig’s or Tamara Leigh’s. Mainly because of that bane of all readers: so many books, so little time. I’m pretty sure I have at least one of Ronie’s and Tamara’s waiting on my Kindle.
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LOL!!! That bane, I tell ya! It is so real. But as soon as you have a minute, please do read the books you (hopefully) have of Ronie’s and Tam’s. They’re both so talented.
And yes. This has turned into a Ronie and Tam love-fest. I’m okay with this. LOL!
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No. These aren’t my favorites, but the list gives me some new books to look for.
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I’m so happy you found some new books to look for!! If you love action, you’ll love Ronie. If you love romance, you’ll LOVE Tamara!! ❤
Thank you so much for stopping by!!
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Haven’t read any of the modern ones but they are on my TBR list! This looks soo good and humorous!
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Thank you, Paula!! No one has sent me hate mail yet. 😉 Ha!!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
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You hit the jackpot with Ronie Kendig. Her books are fantastic and the covers make me slightly jealous. (Okay, a lot.) Also love CMI! 🙂
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Oh Toni. You have no idea just how big a jackpot I hit with Ronie. And she’s so SWEET and generous. ❤ Love her. (And thank you!!)
Love you dearly, sweet friend!! ❤
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I still love THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA.
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Isn’t it a beautiful fairy tale?! ❤
Thank you so much for stopping by!
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I love the fairytales, but the other books you suggested are new to me… And so, on my TBR list they go! Trdivincenzo (at) gmail (dot) com
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I am sorry to say I haven’t read any of the books in the top 5. But I am truly excited to read Count Me In. I mean the book cover love is enough to get me excited. I can’t wait to read.
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I have not read any of these books. I do have 2 of them on my kindle.
Sonnetta_jones(at)hotmail(dot)com
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