PRAISE FOR BECOMING BESTEMOR
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I read "Becoming Bestemor" all the way home and AGAIN...a fantastic book...WOW you are such a talented & gifted author. I felt I was apart of the family I think I actually crawled right inside the book and did not reappear until I was done reading it. And how fitting to have read your book and when Jack & I arrived home our kids were so excited to see us they came in that night. They had the most wonderful news for us...we are going to be first time "GRANDPARENTS" ("Bestemor" & "Bestefar") what a terrific end to an awesome holiday. Life just can't get any better than that, can it?? So when is your third book coming out? Do let me know, I can't wait. Brenda Ball
"Dr. Jeanne has put her whole heart into this emotive story of her beloved Bestemor—and one can feel it beating on every page."
Erv Barnes, Author and Retired Teacher
Dr. Hounshell has written of her most exceptional family, living in a remarkable time and place in American histoy. Stand in awe of their stamina and determination as they surmount the hardships of frontier living while raising a large family. Feel their joy, their pain, their unfailing love for each other as they build a legacy that lives on today. They are forbears of us all. Read! Share! Be there with them!
Meg Chaffin, Editor
I fell in love with little Marie and at times could have shaken J.C. I could hardly wait to see how this six-year-old child became Bestemor. It was an adventure seeing who she became and getting to know those 21 children. It boggled my mind how they fed that many people three times a day. The characters are real, down to earth and engrossing. The story is one that moves quickly easily and will be hard to forget. Dr. Jeanne is a consummate story teller and you’ll love her style and her love for the people she writes about. It’s a book I highly recommend.
Carley Preusch, Attorney, Assisted Living Manager/Owner
This engaging story documents the turbulent, yet heart-warming life of little Marie who grew up in a proud, traditional, but impoverished family in Denmark and risked everything to come to America to care for the seven children of a widowed pioneer farmer who she had dreamed of and loved since she was a small girl. Through spunk, resilience, and a deep faith Marie wins this man she loves and goes on to bear fourteen more of his children (whew)!!
If you, or one of your ancestors is an immigrant, or are descended from pioneers, this lively story will capture both your heart and your imagination. It is told with soul and sensitivity by a granddaughter who knew and loved her Bestemor (Grandmother) dearly! Bestemor was one gritty insightful little gal. I congratulate Jeanne on completing
this inspiring book about her Bestemor’s fascinating life!. She honors her grandparents memory in a most delightful way.
Bruce Merchant, MD, PhD
BECOMING BESTEMOR is a deeply insightful view into family relationships. It deals honestly and poignantly with the loss of children, the hardships of the prairie for pioneers, and the strength of one woman’s love. It is a book you’ll find hard to put down before you finish every word and a wonderful history of our immigrant legacy. Dr. Jeanne has taken the facts of their lives and built a story that will stay in your heart and mind long after you read the last word.
Juanita Beetchenow, Marriange and Family Counsellor
BECOMING BESTEMOR is an epic tale of immigrants and American pioneers, but also a poignant love story of a girl who is brave enough to follow her dream and make it come true, in spite of hardship or consequences.
When my mother told me she was going to write the story of her maternal grandparents I was instantly intrigued. Of course I grew up knowing that they came from Denmark and had 21 children, but as I read this book I was enthralled by all the true accounts passed down through the generations and by my Mom’s ability to bring these unforgettable people to life, making me feel as if I know them.
I am proud to have descended from these people and to have helped my mother in a very small way to bring their story to life.
Dawn Stubbs, Creative Editor, Draftswoman
RAVES FOR THIS PRECIOUS LOVE
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THIS PRECIOUS LOVE is the best book I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down. I’ll never give my copy away.
Eloise Burgmaier
I just finished reading your book and all I can say is WOW!!!!! It is just beautiful! I can't remember ever reading a book that has touched me so. I found myself crying about every few pages and would have to stop and get myself under control again before I could go on. Your writing is so beautiful, tender and honest and vivid. I could feel the range of emotions as though they were my own. Even though our lives have criss-crossed through the years, you have a depth and strength to you that I never suspected or knew.
There was no mystery to your story, but still I found myself grabbing for your book every spare minute I could find. It definitely is a Can't Put Down book. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It is truly a masterpiece. Along with the vivid accounts of each of you expressing your inner most feelings, doubts, dreams, helplessness and anger at times it only reinforced our own feelings and emotions that we've all felt through different experiences. I so enjoyed the letters and poetry, especially the "I Don't Iron Shirts."
Thank you again for your story. It is one I know I will read again and again. Patty Owens
Got your book last Thursday, and could not lay it down, finished it Sat. evening. Very well written, and quite a story. It is quite a love story in this day and age, I am a hopeless romantic, married to a wonderful kind man, who is not romantic, so that makes me even more a "Hopeless romantic."
I loved the cover....Wow, now that is red. !!!!
Thanks for sharing your story. The part of you growing up on the farm is so descriptive. I spent one year in the 6th grade (actually only a few months) on a 160 acre farm, in Missouri, and it was the best and happiest time of my life. I have to say I cried when reading all that cause it brought my childhood all back to me, the blackberries, in Sutherlin. It is wonderfully written, and well worth my reading. Joyce Parks
Author Dr. Jeanne Hounshell's book "This Precious Love" a very precious love story of two people in love; spans more then fifty years of how two came together in devotion of caring love, compassion, heartbreaks, and the thrill of the many experiences that transpired during this time. This story will "melt" in your heart with tears, smiles, and tender feelings of a beautiful life love story. Dr. Jeanne's and Ken's life and journeys together is real and alive. Once you pick this book up you will not put it down until you reach the last page. I look forward to future books.
Claude Reyman, retired Air Force officer, author
Just finished you book and can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. It was so well written! It was wonderful to walk part of that path with you and I need to share I had many, many lovely memories of our times together.
You were uplifting and helpful to me and my lot in life during that time.
Thanks!
Irene Long, Author
What a book we both just got thru reading it and it was so well written.
How well I remembered some of the things you wrote about it was just a great book.
You need to write more you are so good at it.
Floyd and Shirley Crone
I started your book and I am hooked. I love your style. It feels like I am right there in the ice cream parlor with you. I can't wait to get home to read some more.
Renae Powell, Librarian
Jeanne’s vivid account scales the heights of joy and plumbs the depths of sadness. It’s an epic romance spanning over five decades, and the poetry that is interwoven augments the story beautifully. It reads like an autobiography of love—because it is!!
Bruce Merchant, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Jeanne’s story is a revealing insight to life, love, heartbreak and the exhilaration of a young girl’s introduction to adulthood. Jeanne pulls no punches describing her first real romance, her first extended time away from her Nebraska home and all the emotions that a young lady, out on her own, experienced as she began her journey down the road of life. I’m sure each reader will relive a moment in their own past as they get caught up in Jeanne’s reminiscing. Pour a cool drink, find a comfortable chair, lean back and get ready for a “Can’t put down” book you’ll want to read time and again and share with family, friends and neighbors.
Jay Brady, Fort Lupton, Co., author of “Do You Remember”
What a wonderful book! We both just got through reading it and it is so well written. You need to write more, you do it so well. Floyd and Shirley Crone
Jeanne has written a love story such as many of us can only dream of. In most cases, it would be but a daydream indulged in as a fantasy, but Jeanne and Ken’s story is real; it’s alive. Read it; laugh with them; cry with them; and rejoice with them. It’s a great read for every romantic!
Meg Chaffin, Editor
Want a good read to curl up with at bedtime? THIS PRECIOUS LOVE is that and more. It entertains while showing how personal growth brings joy and the attainment of dreams into our lives. Knowing Jeanne and watching this wonderful inspiring story unfold has been a joy for me to share with her. Reading this story has given more depth to her as a person and more hope to my life.
So curl up, read and enjoy this fast paced story, knowing that she truly does wish this deep and abiding love for each of us in our turn. As for me, I can hardly wait to read Jeanne’s next book.
Juanita Beetchenow, owner, Now Imagine That
Ken is not like any hero you have ever known. Jeanne is not like any heroine. They are not larger than life but so very human you will cry with them, want to give them a kick in the behind, laugh with them, and fall in love with them.
It is their weaknesses that tragically separate them and lead them to wander apart. And it is those same weaknesses, after years of growth and maturation, that become the strengths that lead both of them to follow their dreams. It is their humanness told so graphically that bring the reader hope.
Carley Preusch, Attorney
I couldn’t put it down. I kept reading until I’d read every word. What a wonderful story! It is well written, exciting and fast paced. A great read. Mary Jo Spigelmyer, lifelong friend.