I love being able to host special guest author features which compliment a blog tour, as I tend to have a felicity attachment to ‘knowing more’ than what the novel can give to us as a reader. I love to cosy up inside an author’s mind whilst ferreting out a bit of what inspires them to create the stories which give us such a pleasure to read! There are moments where I vacillate between wanting to offer an interview or a guest post – as each guest feature has it’s own advantages; as I contribute the questions for the conversations and the topics for the essays! It sometimes boils down to what makes me the most curious at the time in which I am in the moment of deciding which feature to offer an author, and this is how I settled on asking Mr Richey for an essay compliment to my review!
I wanted to delve a bit deeper into the context of the romance itself – to the very structure of how Mr Richey was able to give us such an inspiring portrait of an honest romance between two people who had such a lot on their plates to overcome! It was a topic that spun itself into my mind nearly at the same moment I signed up to review the novel! I am thankful to be able to share the author’s response and allow his own words to speak for themselves.
Book Synopsis:
Jaxon Tagget is a cattle-rancher’s son, born and raised on the Double T, just outside of Dillon, Montana. In love with his high-school sweetheart, Annie, Jaxon proposes on graduation night, presenting her with a wedding ring made from gold he mined himself. Annie accepts immediately, to the horror of her bitter, man-hating mother.
Jaxon’s a wonderful husband, but the warnings of Annie’s mother linger in the young bride’s ears. And it doesn’t help that women continue to fall all over the markedly handsome Jaxon.
Unaware of his wife’s persistent doubts, Jaxon is struggling with his own troubles when he finds out his dad is sorely in need of money to save the ranch. But hope glimmers gold when he rediscovers the old mine on the Double T.
While Jaxon travels to verify the mine’s productivity, Annie grows increasingly suspicious. Is Jaxon’s absence what it seems, or does he have another, less faithful reason for his travels? When Annie sees a picture of the beautiful laboratory owner whom Jaxon is visiting, she’s sure the only gold he’s interested in is long, blond hair. Is Annie right, or will it be her doubts that forever sever their Two Hearts?
Proposed Topic: Two Hearts is an epic romance spanning not only personal strife and adversity, but the kind of hardship that can break most families apart, as there is a questionable future in regards to the family ranch. How did you approach knitting together a love story anchoured by realistic tribulations whilst grounding your characters in a strength of resolve that would give the reader balance to read through the worst bits whilst appreciating the bond Jaxon and Annie share? How did Jaxon and Annie help propell the story forward through everything that they had to face?
James Eric Richey’s response:
Mr Richey began his essay by featuring two quotations he especially is fond of referencing to solidify his point throughout his guest feature. As I was not entirely sure how to vet permissions to include these quotes on my blog in time for my tour stop, I yielded to hopping on social media and found (quite happily) these are quotations which others appreciate sharing as well! I was quite thrilled to find ‘who’ was behind the tweets and I suggest you visit their feeds for more inspiring content!
I love this quote.
I believe in the immeasurable power of love; that true love can endure any circumstance and reach across any distance.
— Dr. Steve Maraboli (@SteveMaraboli) July 6, 2015
Here is another quote I like.
Life throws challenges and and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it. – Amit Ray pic.twitter.com/eI1f8DsNcH — Inner Light (@InnerLightBooks) August 21, 2014
We live in a disposable society—if something is broken we throw it away. This same philosophy is applied to marriage—divorce is the first answer for any little problem that comes up. At the beginning of Two Hearts Jaxon digs for months to find enough gold to make Annie a wedding ring. He could have purchased a ring for her, but that was the easy way. Jaxon wanted to work for it, to show to Annie what kind of man he was. Jaxon was willing to do anything for her. He knew of her past and knew the challenges she carried with her, and yet, he still wanted to marry her. For Jaxon, they could work together and solve any problem that came their way. No matter the size of the trial, Jaxon wanted to work together side by side with Annie to face life’s challenges. Facing trials could become boring and mundane, but adding a bear attack, finding a gold mine, suspected infidelity, hired killers, and plane crashes adds spice to the story to keep readers turning the page. I think with all of the things that Jaxon and Annie faced, their undying love for each other helped to propel the story forward. Jaxon never faltered. Annie struggled with trust due to her being raised by a mother who hated men. Annie struggled, but in the end she stayed true to Jaxon and the vows she made at marriage. Ultimately their love grew stronger because of the trials they suffered together. They battled the storms and survived. Reading stories about other peoples’ struggles and successes gives us each hope and strength to endure our own trials.







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