Montgomery High series by Stacy Padula

Featuring Stacy Padula

Montgomery High series

5 books

 

Book 1 – The Right Person, June 2010

Chris Dunkin and his close friends have lived lives of excessive partying since age twelve. At fifteen, Chris is drinking more often and trying heavy drugs to keep himself high--but his dream of becoming a professional athlete is slipping away as quickly as his grades. Chris feels empty inside, bored with the partying scene, and incredibly attracted to Courtney Angeletti--his best friend's girlfriend, the mayor's straight-laced daughter. Courtney is equally intrigued by Chris' "life of the party" reputation, and her hidden desire to rebel leads her and Chris on a quest for a lot more than just romance.

This story of teenage acceptance and the resulting battle over moral convictions will hit home with many teens looking for answers

e-Book $4.99

Print $11.50

ISBN-13: 978-1609114725

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Book 2 – When Darkness Tries to Hide, January 2011

As the skies grow darker and darker over Montgomery Lake High, not everyone takes the severe storm warning seriously. A day later, Andy Rosetti--the popular class president--is in a coma, and his classmate Jason Davids feels responsible for the tragedy. As Andy's friends and family cope with the aftermath of the storm, Jason and his friends set out on a quest to save Andy's life. Stopping at nothing, Jason begins to see that there are forces stronger than nature at work in Montgomery--and more than one life in need of saving.

e-Book $4.99

Print $11.50

ISBN: 978-1609768577

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Book 3 – The Battle For Innocence, April 2014

Within a dimly lit hospital room, Chantal Kagelli peers at her boyfriend Andy's blank face. It has been one month since he slipped into a coma-one month since she last heard his voice. Chantal begins reflecting on their journey, which began two years prior in seventh grade. The Battle for Innocence flashes back to that pivotal year when the characters of Montgomery Lake High were first introduced to the temptations, peer pressures, and internal-struggles associated with adolescence. 

e-Book $4.99

Print $12.00

ISBN: 978-1628577778

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Others:

The Aftermath, October, 2013

For the past two years, Jason Davids has lived a charmed life. Blessed with good looks, a popular girlfriend, quick wit, and a wealthy family, Jason has everything he could want--but everything is not enough. There is emptiness--something unsettled in his soul. Partying, drugs, sex, and alcohol provide temporary relief, but the haunting emptiness always returns once he is sober. He can't stand being sober. When a tornado strikes his town, Jason's drug dependency puts one of his classmates, Andy Rosetti, in danger. After Andy is taken away on a stretcher, the guilt and regret that Jason feels lead him to a paradoxical place of darkness and illumination. Jason soon realizes that there is more than one life at risk in Montgomery and a stronger force at work than nature. 

e-Book $3.99

Print $13.00

ISBN: 978-1628570571

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The Forces Within, March, 2014

Last month, when a tornado wreaked havoc on my hometown, I suffered a severe head trauma. I have since experienced something much more disturbing. During my recovery celebration, I came face to face with a force more powerful than any weather phenomenon—something darker than I ever dared to imagine.

Twice this past month, I woke up in a world that I did not recognize. I heard things that didn’t align with my memories—things that made me question my identity, my beliefs, and my own thoughts. I still cannot fully comprehend what happened to me or distinguish reality from illusion.

Am I, perhaps, discerning an additional dimension of life that I was too blind—too jaded—too scared—to see before? Could the forces within these two worlds exist as one?

I’m determined to solve this mystery and gain all of the insight that I can from the haunting enigma that has recently become my life.
—Andy

The Forces Within follows Andy Rosetti and his friends’ chilling adventure at Fallen Lake. Could Andy be stuck between two worlds, or have his eyes been opened to see a deeper reality?

The story wrestles with spiritual warfare, moral convictions, and teenage social issues.

e-Book $4.99

Print $13.59

ISBN: 978-1628578966

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General Series Review by  Lisa Lickel

Padula’s Montgomery High series is a hard-hitting look at today’s teen culture. Fictional, yes, but as Padula notes in her biography, based on current events. The books all feature a large cast of students who assemble and reassemble in couplehood. They are from the typically popular crowd, the faith crowd, and the straight-and-narrow group. Although it might be best to start from the beginning, the winding story line throughout the five books currently available are written so a reader can step into any of them. It will take time to get to know the different cliques, but they are fleshed and real, facing angst, fear, and joy. I did not read them in order, and wasn’t bothered.

Each story is told in multiple viewpoints and are mostly daily activities, behind-the-scenes events at school, home, church, sporting events, or activities. One of the stories, The Forces Within, is one of the character’s first-person accounts of a strange dream-like adventure with the friends lost in an evil-laced mansion. Lies, experimentation, angst, and self-discovery are explored.

The series is written about high schoolers. Even though the intent is to encourage kids to see that that godly faith and lifestyle is the way to overcome temptation and vice, the stories contain pervasive drug use, sexual content and innuendo as well as suggestive sexual language and situations. As a parent, I would recommend checking these stories out first or at least at the same time your children read them so healthy feedback and conversation can take place. You might need to take notes.

About Stacy:

Stacy Padula, a native of Pembroke, Massachusetts, has accrued years of experience working with adolescents. She has been a mentor, life coach, youth group leader, and private educational consultant with extensive experience in the fields of college counseling, tutoring, standardized test preparation, and Christian counseling.

Stacy wrote the Montgomery Lake High books in the hopes of preparing teens to face the “war zone” that is high school–to help kids deal with the stress and peer pressure, and to encourage them to “steer a straight path, pursue God, and not fall for the false promises of the world.”

In her spare time, Stacy enjoys skiing, going to Bruins games, reading about Psychology, taking her dogs to the beach, and spending time with her family, boyfriend, and friends.

Prepare to Meet Your Maker by Pearl Nsiah-Kumi

Prepare to Meet Your Maker by Pearl Nsiah-Kumi is a 48-page book of articles introducing people of all ages and both genders to the love of God through Jesus! 

All the articles, although titled differently, do the same thing—point to Jesus as the only way to a relationship with God. 

One doesn’t have to read the whole book to understand the gospel; each article does the same thing. Time is not on our side; let’s be diligent in sharing this message. Use this book as a tool to reach many for Jesus! Bless you!

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As I (Lorilyn) think about what is happening in the world, I believe Pearl is right. Time is not on our side. How can we not be in the last days? As I think about what that means, all the people who are not believers in Jesus Christ are facing eternal damnation. 

Time is short to share our faith. Jesus died for everyone, the young and old, the rich and poor, the able-bodied and lame, and those who have sinned much and those who have sinned little (all have sinned). We all need a savior. Jesus is the ONLY Way, the ONLY Truth, and the ONLY door to heaven. All others lead to hell. Only Jesus can save you.

This is a short read, 48 pages, and it's only $1.99 on Amazon Kindle, less than a latte at Starbucks.  

Check out Prepare to Meet Your Maker or learn more by clicking here.

5.0 out of 5 starsLearn how to have eternal life in this "short read"

By HopeGiver on October 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

The author gives a very thorough treatise on what each of us can do to have eternal life. She addresses four different groups of people to which everyone falls into one of them. Using the term "grace period," Nsiah-Kumi shares how God has given each person on earth a "grace period" to ask for forgiveness of their sins and seek to have a relationship with the only true God. Once we die, the grace period is over. "Each day that passes brings you closer to the end of your grace period." This is a great "short read" for you to learn how to have eternal life and make that decision today.

With Music in Their Hearts Spies of WWII by Carole Brown

With Music in Their Hearts The Spies of WWII Book 1

Carole Brown

ISBN  978-1941622032

$2.99 Ebook

$12.99 Print

Story and Logic Media Group (November 1, 2014)

Buy on Amazon 

About the Book

Angry at being rejected for military service, Minister Tyrell Walker accepts the call to serve as a civilian spy within his own country. 

Across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio, a spy working for a foreign country is stealing secret plans for newly developed ammunition to be used in the war. According to Tyrell’s FBI cousin, this spy favors pink stationery giving strong indications a woman is involved. 

Tyrell is instructed to obtain a room in the Rayner Boarding House run by the lovely, spunky red-haired Emma Jaine Rayner. Sparks of jealousy and love fly between them immediately even as they battle suspicions that one or the other is not on the up and up.

While Tyrell searches for the murdering spy who reaches even into the boarding home, Emma Jaine struggles with an annoying renter, a worried father (who could be involved in this spy thing), and two younger sisters who are very different but just as strong willed as she is.

Tyrell works to keep his double life a secret and locate the traitor. He refuses to believe that Emma Jaine could be involved even when he sees a red-haired woman in the arms of another man. Could the handsome and svelte banker who’s also determined to win Emma Jaine’s hand for marriage, be the dangerous man he’s looking for? Is the trouble-making renter who hassles Emma Jaine serving as a flunky? Worse, is Papa Rayner so worried about his finances and keeping his girls in the style they’re used to, that he'll stoop to espionage? 

Will their love survive the danger and personal issues that arise to hinder the path of true love?

Lisa Lickel's Review

Ms. Brown’s historical novel is a delight. The book adds a twisty dimension to the WWII spy game that isn’t often considered from the US war-time arena. Yes, there were spies in the US, stooping to betray their country and sell information to our enemies, creating a new level of mistrust when these traitors could be our next-door neighbors, or even family members.

When a young pastor tries to enlist but is turned down for head-scratching reasons, his debonair, fun-loving cousin comes to the rescue. Or was this all part of some elaborate plan? Tyrell Walker gets to serve his country after all, just not on the European or Asian fronts. With his cousin Ben’s contacts, Tyrell is pulled into the underworld of espionage and given orders to find out who is selling secrets. He is given a position as a church pastor and a room in a boarding house which the government believes hides their target. Nearly every boarder, from the spunky elderly Miss Gertie, to the aspiring catty actress, the couple who always argues to the banker who seems to have a lot of late nigh crises at the bank, not to mention the owner of the boarding house who’s falling on hard times, is a potential spy. Tyrell has his work cut out for him, but his heart is truly in God’s corner and the pastorate is not just a cover. He is God’s servant first, an undercover agent second, and falling in love with his landlady, Emma Jaine. Can he keep all of these pieces of his life in control, or will he let his heart overrule his good judgement?

Brown uses period clothing, lifestyle and a lot of slang in her tale of life Stateside during the perilous era of World War II. Told in multiple viewpoints, the story opens with action, clues, and faith that God is in control during an era gone amok. For those who like inspirational period historical novels with lots of romance, relationship issues, and 1940s culture. Discussion guide included.

Christian Fantasy Author Lorilyn Roberts: How I Became an Author

50 Great Writers You Should be Reading 2016 Contest. 

Below is the article I wrote that won me a top spot.

Lorilyn Roberts

My love for writing began with a homework assignment in third grade. The teacher asked us to write a short story. Fifty-plus years later, on occasion, I’ll pull the old, faded, handwritten story out from underneath my bed and read it. I still remember writing the words.

In fourth grade, I wrote poetry.

In fifth grade, my teacher accused me of plagiarism in front of the class. My father went to the school and talked to her. He never once questioned my integrity.

By the time I was in ninth grade, I had written two unfinished books. Yeah—I didn’t know how to finish them.

When I was thirteen, my parents gave me a guitar for Christmas. The next few years my writing waned as classical guitar took up most of my time. I loved the attention and self-worth it brought me as I performed at many major events.

When I went to the University of Georgia my freshman year, I rediscovered my love for writing. Since I grew up in a family business, however, English wasn’t on the list of “qualifying” majors; maybe physical therapy or business administration, but not English. No starving authors were allowed in the Roberts’ family.

Then, as often happens, I fell in love.

I hit a crossroads. What was I going to do with the rest of my life? In a moment of insanity, I threw my college degree out the window, and at my parent’s urging, agreed to go to court reporting school. My future husband promised someday I could go back to college.

As a court reporter, I was writing, if you can count thousands of pages of depositions writing. I imagined how many books that would be, and I longed to write something different.

When my husband finished medical school, we moved to Gainesville, Florida, where he began his residency in radiation oncology. I enrolled in college and earned my two-year degree towards a bachelor’s in journalism. I took my first creative writing class, and my writing appetite was whet once more.

My life changed forever when tragedy struck. I discovered my husband was having an affair and had gotten his girlfriend pregnant. Not only was I devastated because I loved him, but I had sacrificed a lot for his career. My dreams were just beginning to be fulfilled, although my inability to get pregnant caused me great depression. My hopes of becoming a mother, earning my college degree, and writing books evaporated overnight.

I cried oceans of tears and didn’t want to live anymore, but God heard my desperate wails. I sought counseling, began to read the Bible, got involved in a local church, and started attending a prayer group. Most importantly, I recommitted my life to Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the hardest part was accepting God’s will. I had to go back to work as a court reporter since that was the only skill I had. I had dreamed of so much more.

While it took some time, God gave me new dreams and better opportunities. I obtained that elusive college degree, and in the process, did quite a bit of traveling that included studying in England, Israel, Italy, and Australia. On a whim, I got certified as a scuba diver and made over a hundred dives around the world.

However, my longing to be a mother remained unfulfilled for eight more years. Then, on May 8, 1994, on Mother’s Day, I arrived home with a three-year-old Nepali girl. Five years later, over Christmas, I adopted an infant girl from Vietnam.

Manisha a couple of months after arrival.

Joy in Vietnam When I Adopted her

Reading picture books to my daughters unexpectedly rekindled my love for books and writing. We made frequent trips to the library, and I would come home with armfuls of books. We read hundreds of books together, even into their teens—one of the best things about homeschooling.

Not surprisingly, the first book I wrote was a children’s picture book, The Donkey and the King. When I finished it, God told me something I didn’t expect. He wanted me to wait until my children were older before I wrote more books. My passion for writing was all consuming. As a single mother, my daughters needed me when I wasn’t working—now as a broadcast captioner.

I waited four years to write my memoir Children of Dreams. I was afraid if I waited any longer, I would forget my daughters’ adoption stories. I wanted them to know how God had brought us together as a forever family.

After writing Children of Dreams, my passion for writing grew. However, I only knew how to write picture books and nonfiction. How could I learn to write fiction? I remembered those two books I wrote as a teen—the books I never finished. 

At the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference, I heard about a Masters in Creative Writing degree from an accredited online college. I later enrolled at the spry young age of 53. When I completed my Masters, the book I wrote as part of my thesis became a best-selling book in Christian fantasy on Amazon. Three years later, Seventh Dimension – The Door is still listed in the top twenty Christian fantasy books (I eventually made it free on all eBook platforms).

Following Seventh Dimension - The Door, I wrote four more books in the series: Seventh Dimension - The King, Seventh Dimension - The Castle, Seventh Dimension - The City, and Seventh Dimension - The Prescience. Currently, I’m working on the sixth book in the set to be published later this year.

What drives me to write? I write for an Audience of One. God gives me the desire to write, and He gets all the glory. I feel God’s pleasure and spiritual insights I can’t explain.

As I look back, I’ve learned I needed to live a little so God could teach me much. God has shown me He never wastes anything and limits the feasts of the locusts. They can only eat what He allows. It is never too late to start writing, and it’s always too soon to quit. If we commit our way to our heavenly Father, God will multiply our time, effort, and ability. If my writing can change a life—even if it’s only my own—then I know I’m in God’s will, and really, isn’t that all that matters?

Lorilyn Roberts Answers Questions About Writing, Family, John 3:16 Network , and Future Books - Part One

QUEST

LORI       

Question:  How do you find time to write: 

Lorilyn:  Until recently, as a single mother, most of my time revolved around my family. My youngest daughter just started her first year of college this month, and my oldest daughter recently moved into her own apartment. I feel like I've entered into a new chapter of life and am still adjusting to the change. The home is much quieter, but it does allow me more time to write 

Several years ago, recognizing how involved I was in their lives as a single parent, I felt it was important to pursue my own dreams when they became older. 

I also work very strange hours as a full-time broadcast captioner. I half-heartily think about how many people have read my captions around the world and imagine what it would be like if that many people were reading my books.

When we were doing book launches in the John 3:16 Network, that took up much of my free time. I love doing TV and radio appearances, but they are also time consuming, so I haven’t done as many as I would have liked.

Sometimes I’ve focused more on charitable pursuits. In the fall of 2014, my younger daughter and I took books to orphans in Nepal. Over the last two years, the John 3:16 Marketing Network has donated books to the Wakulla Correctional Facility near Tallahassee, Florida. Prisoners have read and reviewed about three hundred books.

Question:  How many books do you write in a year?

Lorilyn:  This last year I wrote two books, but it left little time to do other things. I plan to take a break before writing the next book in the Seventh Dimension Series, so I will probably write only one book in the next several months

Question:  Tell us about your John 3:16 Marketing Network of Christian Authors.

Lorilyn:  Currently, the John 3:16 Marketing Network is closed to new members. Once we stopped hosting book launches, I realized there were other groups more beneficial to new and upcoming Christian authors. Promoting books, whether mine or others, and writing simultaneously is hard, and as much as I enjoy marketing, my passion is writing.

A core group of authors in the network continues to encourage each another in marketing and writing. Many blessings come from the members who are active, and even those who have moved on still connect in various ways.

If a new author or wannabe author wants to join a Christian group or receive mentoring, I would recommend for nonfiction writers, Shelley Hitz, who has a “Training Authors for Success” website. For fiction writers, I would recommend Jerry Jenkins’ new writers guild. Both groups help authors with writing and marketing.

If you are an author with some history of writing books and want the camaraderie of other authors who have been at this for a while, contact me and we can talk. I occasionally bring in authors free of charge.

My original desire, once we stopped doing launches, was to provide one‑on‑one mentoring for new writers launching their first book. Many “roaches” out there promise the universe and give little in return. They often involve the outlay of too much money, and authors are burned because they don’t know any better. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the time. I prefer to think of marketing as a ministry, not a business endeavor, and I’ve struggled to make that switch to a business model, but that could always change.

Question:  Tell us about your newest book this year.

Lorilyn:  I just published the fourth book in my Seventh Dimension Series, The City.

Question:  Tell us what brought about the creation and writing of the Seventh Dimension Series.

Lorilyn: After I published The Donkey and the King, I wanted to do a series of picture books, but picture books are expensive to produce, especially when you hire an illustrator. Publishing them is not economically viable as a POD book. I found it hard to sell at a price point that people would pay, and I couldn’t afford not to recoup the costs on future books. I also knew I needed to wait to write more books until Joy was older. She was only seven at the time, and I realized that it was unfair to devote that much time to writing books when she was still so young.

When Joy was eleven, I wrote Children of Dreams. Even though I had kept all my notes from both my daughters' adoptions, I was afraid if I waited any longer, I would forget the story. Over a decade had passed since I had adopted Manisha. 

After the thrill of writing my adoption memoir, I wanted to write more books, but I recognized I didn’t have the expertise to write fiction. Some things I wanted to write about from my life could only be told as fiction.

Once I saw my limitations as a writer, I went back to college to obtain my Masters of Art in Creative Writing from Perelandra College. In order to graduate, I had to write a full-length novel. From my coursework, I developed the first book in the Seventh Dimension Series that included the animal characters from The Donkey and The King.

I included issues from my life—bullying, abandonment, failure, and fighting. I was a pretty wounded kid. I can identify with that kind of teen. At the same time, I also had a deep longing for God.

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, but I had some Jewish friends, and their sense of community was something I wanted. I was jealous for their God.

The little dog from The Donkey and the King, Much‑Afraid, was also my childhood pet. The real Much‑Afraid, Gypsy, came to me during a

thunderstorm. When we buried her many years later, a sudden thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere. We had to hurry as lightning flashed all around. I promised at that moment, when I was fifteen, someday the whole world would know about Gypsy—the dog God gave me. I share her story in my adoption memoir Children of Dreams. I could say more, but I’ll let readers read the book rather than summarize it here. (Children of Dreams is a 2016 Readers' Favorite Award Winner in the Memoir category.)

I have written four books in the Seventh Dimension Series. One or two more books remain to be written. A great deal of research goes into my writing. Even the second book, The King, required research into chariot racing in the first century.

  

The words I write will live on after I’m gone. Someday I’ll stand before God and give an accounting for every book I’ve written. I’m intimately aware of the importance of making sure I draw people to God, giving hope, and showing that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The concepts of forgiveness, hope, and purity find their way into the fabric of my stories, pregnant with suspense, mystery, and hopefully, twists and turns that keep the reader guessing.

Who wants to read a predictable book? I must make the reader read until the very last page to know how the story ends. 

*~*~*~*

Part two of Lorilyn's interview will be posted in a follow-up blogpost. Visit http://LorilynRoberts.com to learn more about her books.