Where There's Smoke – ARC Sarahbeth Caplin

Title: Where There’s Smoke
Author: SarahbethCaplin
Release Date: June 10, 2014
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Pastor Henry Collins is hailed as a hero after rescuing a teenage girl from a burning church. But the real reason he was at the right place at the right time is known only to him and Hannah Mercer, the teenage girl he rescued: a girl whose faith has more to do with keeping up appearances than anything to do with God.
Lia Anders is a classmate of Hannah’s: a girl whose coming out as a lesbian resulted in immediate expulsion from the church. As an unlikely friendship develops between the two, Hannah begins to realize the error of her hypocritical ways, and encourages Henry to make a decision that will forever alter the course of their lives. But for Henry, the price of living a lie is easier than owning up to the truth.
Where There’s Smoke is a story that asks: who are we really? Are we the sum of all our actions? And is the note we finish our lives on the most defining of them all?

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As wisps of smoke curled under Hannah’s nose, she wondered if it had finally happened: she’d woken up to find herself in hell.
I had it coming, she thought, defeated and unwilling to move from the darkness of the church basement. She felt no fear; apathy did not allow for much feeling of anything.It’s all a dream anyway.
Until alarm bells starting screeching, and then it became reality.
Suddenly alert, Hannah felt panic settle in as the air thickened and her eyes watered. Hannah never considered hell to be a place of literal fire. She placed more faith in Dante’s idea of it than the Bible’s. But this–this literal choking agony–itcouldn’t be what she deserved, could it? She was sorry–desperately sorry. For everything.
As a wall of smoke started to close in on the last she’d know of the world, fighting back seemed like a futile option. She’d been running too long. This ending was inevitable. It was deserved.
She closed her eyes, ready to meet whoever or whatever might be waiting. A sturdy pair of arms lifted her from the searing floor, but she didn’t bother opening her eyes, realizing there was nothing she could do now that the devil had caught up with her.

Beth holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Kent State University. It was during college that she first saw her name in print as a columnist for her campus newspaper, The Daily Kent Stater. Now living in Denver, Colorado, she can be found in various microbreweries when not chained to her laptop working on future books.

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4 out of 5 Stars Arc from Southern Belle Promotions
A pastor saves an unknown teenager from a church fire things start to unravel when he becomes a hero to the community. There is more than meets the eye. The reason why they are both in the church will destroy one of them.
Hannah Mercer a typical teenager who father has left her mother trying to fit in with the religious girls at her church and school. She ends up befriending Lia an open gay person who is an outcast by the church and her so called friends at school.
She soon realizes that Lia is not a bad person as others try to portray her. Not everything is black and white in the bible or religion.. Hannah also finds herself involve with her married Pastor Henry Collins which started out innocently with her meeting him for answers about faith. It soon became more as they seek comfort in each other.
In the midst of religious people who are not perfect and flawed, we see how things can escalate. No one is perfect and even strong faith Christians are easily susceptible to things they know are wrong but they try to justify their behavior.
We see that even so called perfect people are fragile and sometimes will take the easy way out to ease themselves of their pain. It is not easy living in a microscopic world where you are expected to be perfect.