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Tulsa #1
Tulsa Tempest
The boomtown is about to explode! When country girl Tessa Jurgen learns that her bootlegging father has promised her in marriage to a man she doesn't love, she seeks refuge in the supposedly progressive boomtown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The year is 1921. As governess to the children of an oil baron, Tessa is befriended by the black household servants, Chloe, Jasper, and Pole. Together they become a true family. But the handsome schoolteacher, Gaven MacIntyre, is also interested in forming a partnership with Tessa, despite his worry that she is "overly friendly" to black people. Racial tensions remain at a simmer until Jasper and a friend are accused of "accosting" a white girl. Will Tessa stand up for what she knows is right, even if it means losing Gaven? Or will she be drawn into Tulsa' tempest of prejudice and hatred?
Nook
First published June 1, 1995
About the author
Norma Jean Lutz
121 books24 followersNorma Jean Lutz’s writing career began when she enrolled in a writing correspondence course. Since then, she has had over 250 short stories and articles published in both secular and Christian publications. The full-time writer is also the author of over 50 published books under her own name and many ghostwritten books. Her books have been favorably reviewed in Affair de Coeur, Coffee Time Romance, Romance Reader at Heart, and The Romance Studio magazines, and her short fiction has garnered a number of first prizes in local writing contests.
Norma Jean is the founder of the Professionalism In Writing School, which was held annually in Tulsa for fourteen years. This writers' conference, which closed its doors in 1996, gave many writers their start in the publishing world.
A gifted teacher, Norma Jean has taught a variety of writing courses at local colleges and community schools, and is a frequent speaker at writers' seminars around the country. For eight years, she taught on staff for the Institute of Children's Literature. She has served as artist-in-residence at grade schools, and for two years taught a staff development workshop for language arts teachers in schools in Northeastern Oklahoma.
Norma Jean has brought out past out-of-print novels to create a new series. These teen novels (which she likes to call "Clean Teen Reads") were published in the 1980s and 90s, yet the story lines are timeless. Sporting new titles and new book covers, these books will become part of the "Norma Jean Lutz Classic Collection" series.
Her newest teen offering is Brought to You By the Color Drab. A story of a young man living in the ghetto who seemingly was born in the wrong place in the wrong time. This is a story of redemption!
Most recently she joined with ONE Audiobooks to produce the Pathways to the Past audiobook series. The eight titles in series cover many decades of authentic, adventurous history. For middle-grade kids it means "getting hooked on history."
The undertaking was a year and a half of a great deal of collaborating AND a great deal of hard work. The resulting series was well worth it. Check out "Pathways to the Past" right Here: https://njnotations.myshopify.com
Norma Jean is the founder of the Professionalism In Writing School, which was held annually in Tulsa for fourteen years. This writers' conference, which closed its doors in 1996, gave many writers their start in the publishing world.
A gifted teacher, Norma Jean has taught a variety of writing courses at local colleges and community schools, and is a frequent speaker at writers' seminars around the country. For eight years, she taught on staff for the Institute of Children's Literature. She has served as artist-in-residence at grade schools, and for two years taught a staff development workshop for language arts teachers in schools in Northeastern Oklahoma.
Norma Jean has brought out past out-of-print novels to create a new series. These teen novels (which she likes to call "Clean Teen Reads") were published in the 1980s and 90s, yet the story lines are timeless. Sporting new titles and new book covers, these books will become part of the "Norma Jean Lutz Classic Collection" series.
Her newest teen offering is Brought to You By the Color Drab. A story of a young man living in the ghetto who seemingly was born in the wrong place in the wrong time. This is a story of redemption!
Most recently she joined with ONE Audiobooks to produce the Pathways to the Past audiobook series. The eight titles in series cover many decades of authentic, adventurous history. For middle-grade kids it means "getting hooked on history."
The undertaking was a year and a half of a great deal of collaborating AND a great deal of hard work. The resulting series was well worth it. Check out "Pathways to the Past" right Here: https://njnotations.myshopify.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 31, 2013
The year was 1921; the place was Tulsa, Oklahoma during the Tulsa race riots. The story centered on a nineteen year old woman, Tessa, who fled to Tulsa to avoid marrying one of her father’s drunken buddies.
Tessa is not at all prejudice and she proves it time and again. Her strong beliefs rub off on a man she comes to love.
While I enjoyed the story and the history, I felt there wasn’t enough action and conflict for such a violent and tumultuous time in history. I also found it difficult to establish and maintain Tessa as a nineteen year old, as she was repeatedly described and perceived as much younger throughout the story.
A Christian tone was sprinkled throughout Tulsa Tempest, but not in a preachy way. Tulsa Tempest is an approachable way to be introduced to the Tulsa riots of 1921.
Tessa is not at all prejudice and she proves it time and again. Her strong beliefs rub off on a man she comes to love.
While I enjoyed the story and the history, I felt there wasn’t enough action and conflict for such a violent and tumultuous time in history. I also found it difficult to establish and maintain Tessa as a nineteen year old, as she was repeatedly described and perceived as much younger throughout the story.
A Christian tone was sprinkled throughout Tulsa Tempest, but not in a preachy way. Tulsa Tempest is an approachable way to be introduced to the Tulsa riots of 1921.
October 21, 2017
This reminds me a lot of a Grace Livingston Hill novel. There is a simple, sweet romance (too fast-moving, though), lustful bad men, a brave heroine, a somewhat weak male love interest who changes at the end (seeming a little sudden), children who become friends with the heroine, and the friendly black workers who befriend the heroine. She stands up for them in their time of trouble, and the riots come near the end of the book. Has some worth-while moments and was just the type of easy-reading I was looking for, but it's nothing earth-shattering and is Arminian in theology.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews