Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ The Patience Trilogy by Beth Fehlbaum

Courage in Patience 

Beth Fehlbaum

(The Patience Trilogy #1)

Publication date: March 29th 2016

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Courage to endure.
Courage to survive.
Courage to overcome. 

Tenacious 14-year-old Ashley Asher claws her way back to normalcy after enduring six years of an unimaginable Hell. Uprooted from her negligent and selfish mother, Ashley finds solace in the safety of her father’s home. Building a relationship with her stepmother, she’s finally able to open up and confront the past that haunts her.

With the help of her stepmom, therapist, and a group of troubled adolescents, Ashley battles her demons, struggling to find the normal teenage life she’s always wanted. Can Ashley find the strength and courage to overcome the horrors of her past while fighting for the future she so deserves?

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Playlist The Patience Trilogy

                            Kate Wolf                                  

“Across the Great Divide” 

                      David Wilcox                            

“Show the Way”

Everything But the Girl 

“We Walk the Same Line”

Eliza Gilkyson 

“Welcome Back”

Shawn Colvin 

“Steady On”

Vangelis & Jon 

“I’ll Find My Way Home”

The Avett Brothers

“Tear Down the House”

Mumford and Sons

“Ghosts That We Knew”

Tom Russell  

“Love Abides”

Rilo Kiley   

“Paint’s Peeling”

Maroon 5  

“She Will Be Loved”

The Avett Brothers 

“Black, Blue”

David Wilcox

“Break in the Cup”

Iris Dement & Tom Russell 

“Box of Visions”

Tom Russell 

“It Goes Away”

The Avett Brothers 

“The Greatest Sum”

                 Chuck Pyle                 

“Highway Highway”

Matchbox Twenty 

“How Far We’ve Come”

The Fray  

“How to Save a Life”

        Tilly and the Wall       

“Lost Girl”

Hope in Patience

Hope to heal.

Hope to grow.

Hope to evolve.

Still shattered from the horrific events of her childhood years, 15-year-old Ashley Asher is barely holding it together. Battling her vicious and vile mother who still sees her as the villain and not the victim, Ashley’s stuck in a cycle of self-injury and self-hatred as a result--despite the many people who trying to pull her out of it.

Adolescence is hard, but throw in a new school, a new family, and a father she hardly knows, Ashley's need for self-destruction and pain intensifies. Her new therapist, Dr. Matt, may be unconventional with bizarre antics, but he'll do whatever it takes to pull Ashley out of the doldrums. Ashley just wants a crack at normalcy. But can her counselor and the friends and family who love her teach her that "crazy is the new normal" and that nobody has it easy?

Truth in Patience 

Truth in the past.

Truth in reality.

Truth for tomorrow.

Finally adjusting to life in small town Texas, Ashley Asher sees a glimmer of what happiness really is. Even her new relationship with the attentive Joshua Brandt shows promise of a first romance. But Ashley's fear of intimacy after years of unspeakable abuse may cause friction and distance in their relationship.

Determined to prove to her that she's healing, Dr. Matt, her beloved therapist, shows her that "life is messy." And he doesn't know how messy it is about to get. When her mother decides that Ashley belongs back in their hometown with her, Ashley is forced into another family feud that she isn't prepared for. Refusing to leave behind the new life she created in Texas, Ashley and her mother go head-to-head. But can Ashley finally find the courage and strength to battle her demons when her mother might be the biggest demon of all?

In addition to writing Young Adult Contemporary Fiction, Beth Fehlbaum is a high school English-Language Arts teacher who frequently draws on her experience as an educator to write her books. She has a B.A. in English, Minor in Secondary Education, and an M.Ed. in Reading. 

Beth is a featured author on the 2015-2016 Spirit of Texas Reading List- High School for the Kirkus Starred Reviewed Big Fat Disaster (Merit Press/F+W Media, March 2014) and The Patience Trilogy: Courage (1), Hope (2), and Truth (3) (Steady On Books, April 2016). 

Beth is a member of the RAINN (Rape , Abuse, Incest National Network) Speakers’ Bureau. She has a following in the young adult literature world and also among survivors of sexual abuse because of her work with victims’ advocacy groups. 

She has been the keynote speaker at the National Crime Victims’ Week Commemoration Ceremony at the Hall of State in Dallas, Texas and a presenter for Greater Texas Community Partners, where she addressed a group of social workers and foster children on the subject of “Hope.” 

Beth is in-demand as a panelist, having presented/appeared at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference, the American Library Association’s annual conference, YALSA, and N.C.T.E./ALAN, and she is a member of The Author’s Guild. 

She is a survivor of a traumatic childhood, like Ashley in The Patience Trilogy, and the day-to-day manager of an eating disorder much like Colby’s in Big Fat Disaster. These life experiences give her a unique perspective, and she writes her characters’ stories in a way meant to inspire hope. 

Beth lives with her family in the woods of East Texas. 

You can find Beth online at http:www.bethfehlbaumbooks.com, http://www.uncommonya.com, on Facebook, and on https://twitter.com/bethfehlbaum.

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Review ~ Big Fat Disaster by Beth Fehlbaum

Big Fat Disaster

by Beth Fehlbaum

Published April 18th 2014 by Merit Press

Insecure, shy, and way overweight, Colby hates the limelight as much as her pageant-pretty mom and sisters love it. It's her life: Dad's a superstar, running for office on a family values platform. Then suddenly, he ditches his marriage for a younger woman and gets caught stealing money from the campaign. Everyone hates Colby for finding out and blowing the whistle on him. From a mansion, they end up in a poor relative's trailer, where her mom's contempt swells right along with Colby's supersized jeans. Then, a cruel video of Colby half-dressed, made by her cousin Ryan, finds its way onto the internet. Colby plans her own death. A tragic family accident intervenes, and Colby's role in it seems to paint her as a hero, but she's only a fraud. Finally, threatened with exposure, Colby must face facts about her selfish mother and her own shame. Harrowing and hopeful, proof that the truth that saves us can come with a fierce and terrible price, Big Fat Disaster is that rare thing, a story that is authentically new.

5 out of 5 stars

Reading this book was such an emotional journey for me.  Even though this is a work of fiction, it deals with a very REAL problem, eating disorders.  Colby has a binge eating disorder and uses food like a drug as a means to escape what is happening in her life.  Her family in absolutely no way, whatsoever is a support system and Colby finds herself on the verge of suicide. This book was definitely not an easy read, as having an eating disorder of my own, I could really relate to the challenges that Colby was going through.  Not only did she have to deal with the childish ridicule and cattiness of her classmates, her family should have been taken out and shot for how they treated her.  Her own mother was a self-centered person and at times, I just wanted to slap her to give her a wake-up call.  She should have never ever called her daughter fat, or considered her an embarrassment to the family.  I think the part that really angered me was when the video was going around and it was suddenly Colby's fault!  Had she not been overweight, then the video would have never been made.  Ugh!  But wait, there's more!  To call your own daughter a BIG FAT DISASTER when talking on the phone to a friend was just epic.  Yep....mother of the year material there, let me tell you!  I am really glad that at the end, Colby found an excellent support system, and was on a road to hopefully some happiness, which she truly deserved.

Ms. Fehlbaum has written an amazing novel that has a heartbreaking message about the seriousness of eating disorders.  I was instantly drawn into this emotional story from the first page.  It was not an easy read, not because of the writing itself, but for the message the book was about.  For all the "Colby's" out there in the world, just know that there are people who care about you, just hang on till you find the right one to listen!  {{Big hugs}}