I’d once planned to post monthly on the Journey to Beauty. I see I haven’t kept that schedule! But as I take the final steps to format Snowflake Tiara for sale on September first, I’ve been thinking about beauty again.
I didn’t give my issues to the heroine of More Than a Tiara, my novella in Snowflake Tiara. For some reason, she turned out to have had a career as a supermodel, so I’m pretty sure she didn’t look like me or think like me.
Marisa Hiller is beautiful, and she knows it. How can she not? She’d been told it all her life. Beauty has opened doors for her, closed to many others. What she doesn’t know is why. Is there a reason God gave her an extra dose of beauty?
In this snippet, Marisa and Jase are sitting in the Cathedral of St. Helena, just after the annual Christmas in the Cathedral performance of the Helena Symphony.
“God among us,” Marisa said quietly. “It’s beyond comprehension.”
“He loved us that much. Calls us to Him.”
She turned to him. “It’s crazy. We’re not worth it.”
“We are to Him.”
“People say I’m beautiful.” She put a finger to his lips to stop the words she had to know he wanted to say. “But God doesn’t see me that way. When He looks at me, He doesn’t see me. He sees Jesus.”
He’s missing a great view.
Oh, Jase knew it wasn’t true. God knew exactly what He’d created in Marisa. Not only a woman with a beautiful face and body, but one with a personality and heart to match. Like the Grinch, Jase felt like his heart grew ten sizes bigger, just thinking about her.
“Do you think God cares who wins the Miss Snowflake title, Jase?” Her blue eyes looked boldly into his. “If He doesn’t place the same importance on beauty as humans do, why should He care?”
To find out what Jase answered…and where Marisa’s questions take her, you’ll need to read Snowflake Tiara!
The Debutante Queen by Angela Breidenbach ~ 1889 (Helena, MT): Calista Blythe enters the first Miss Snowflake Pageant celebrating Montana statehood to expose the plight of street urchins. But if her hidden indentured orphan is discovered, Calista’s reputation and her budding romance with pageant organizer, Albert Shanahan, could both unravel. Will love or law prevail?
More Than a Tiara by Valerie Comer ~ 2014 (Helena, MT): Marisa Hiller’s interest in competing in Miss Snowflake Pageant for the city of Helena’s 150th anniversary is at zip zero zilch when she discovers the official photographer is Jase Mackie. Can Jase make amends for past mistakes and offer her, not only a tiara, but a partner in her crusade to help needy children and families?
