Books
Nonfiction: Messy to Meaningful: Lessons from the Junk Drawer
Or check out romantic comedy novels: Turtles in the Road and Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated
Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated (2019) by Kaley Rhea and Rhonda Rhea
OFF-SCRIPT & OVER-CAFFEINATED: A NOVEL
If there’s one thing Harlow Cruse hates more than those schmaltzy Heartcast TV movies…it’s the fact that she loves those schmaltzy Heartcast TV movies. She loves them angrily. With popcorn. Popscorn?
As if she doesn’t get enough drama in her day to day—directing a ministry-minded community theatre that cranks out three shows a month and trying to keep up with her aspiring screenwriter bestie, Teagan, a self-described “dramagician.”
When the Heartcast Movie division announces they’ll briefly be allowing submissions for new, original Christmas movies, Teagan is convinced this is her time.
Roped into workshopping scenes from Teagan’s in-progress spec script (“Christmas in Snow Prairie.” Or maybe “Jingle Bell Kiss.” “A Twice-Baked Christmas”?) Harlow finds herself paired with an even more reluctant co-star. Jack Bentley might have the most Heartcast Original Movie name on the planet, but he is anything but formulaic.
As she begins to see past assumptions she hadn’t even realized she’d made, Harlow recognizes that all the time she’s been rolling her eyes at the predictable dance of made-for-TV plot-points, she’s unknowingly been holding people to the expectations of her own formula. Her own opinions. Her own preferences. Her own strengths.
She’d never thought of herself as overly-judgmental. Or cynical. Or even narrow. But in the midst of laughing her way through poorly-executed tropes and half-painted backdrops, out-of-season sweaters and various metaphorical and literal fires, Harlow’s eyes begin to open to the beauty of not-like-me in the body of Christ. And to the truth that oneness was never meant to be a synonym for sameness.
☕☕☕
This was probably my most fun fiction-writing experience to date! Can I TELL you how ridiculous my mom and I were while putting these scenes together? All the TV Christmas movie tropes. ALL of them. Plus the opportunity to write an artsy introvert character. Harlow Cruse gets me on an intellectual level, but Jack Bentley is my SOUL. All the laughter and feelings went into this project that, at its heart, is about loving one another.
Messy to Meaningful: Lessons From the Junk Drawer (2018) by Monica Schmelter, Rhonda Rhea, & Kaley Rhea
MESSY TO MEANINGFUL: LESSONS FROM THE JUNK DRAWER
Got a junk drawer? Ever find yourself stuffing stray items in there without thinking? Holding on to incidentals that are no longer needed? Yeah, most of us are there.
We can do that same sort of stuffing in our spiritual lives, holding on to so much junk that it becomes tough to fit in the good things the Lord is calling us to.
What if we told you there are ways to sort through some of that junk, keep what you need, throw out what’s unnecessary and move forward, less hindered, less weighed down, more spiritually organized—more...free?
There are powerful truths in the Word of God to get you to that very place. You’re invited to take a little journey through the junk drawer, enjoy some chuckles with girlfriends Monica Schmelter, Rhonda Rhea and Kaley Rhea, and find yourself some beautiful...free.
📎📎📎
Co-authored with actual momfriend Rhonda Rhea and awe-inspiring friendmom Monica Schmelter, this book is a blend of three unique voices relating one unified message. We have an amazing God who can take our craziest messes and bring about glorious purpose and meaning.
Available in paperback and on Kindle Unlimited.
NEW MESSY TO MEANINGFUL COMING IN FEBRUARY 2020!!!
Turtles in the Road (2017) by Rhonda Rhea & Kaley Rhea
TURTLES IN THE ROAD: A NOVEL
Sometimes a detour takes you exactly where you need to be.
Piper Cope was so sure the Lord called her to be a pastor’s wife. So when her pastor/fiancé breaks it off, she’s every kind of puzzled. Does God even have a purpose for her anymore? On the road halfway between the bridges she’s burned and some kind of new start, she encounters the most unexpected detour. She swerves on a rainy road to miss a turtle and ends up in a ditch with an airbag to the face.
Now stuck in this little town, she wonders how in the world she could’ve gotten her God-signals so very crossed. And how in the world is she supposed to know what He wants her to do now?
In the meantime, at least the community center guy, Jay Marler, has her working a temporary job there. Problem is, somehow she’s coaching a children’s basketball team. She does not…basketball. And she certainly does not children.
🐢🐢🐢
Co-authored with humor author (and laugh riot) Rhonda Rhea, this Christian romantic comedy is designed to cause readers' friends, loved ones, and roommates to peek their heads in to ask why the reader is laughing so loudly, and could the reader please keep it down? While also taking on such light topics as How Can I Know the Will of God? and What Does That Even Mean? and Are Turtles and Tortoises the Same Thing Or...?
Enjoy Piper's journey from shipwrecked plans to sweet possibilities as she discovers that sometimes detours can take you exactly where you need to be.
Check your local Christian bookstore!
