Blog Tour Spotlight | Celebrating “Sing A New Song” (The Wardrobe Series, Book Three) by Candee Fick An INSPY Contemporary Sweet Romance #newtomeauthor I’ve had my eyes on to be #amreading for awhile! Esp since last Summer’s INSPY Reading Binge Fest in JULY!

Posted Tuesday, 30 April, 2019 by jorielov , , , , 6 Comments

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On why this author has been on my bookish radar:

You might recollect the words I shared on behalf of my personal interest in INSPY Lit and how I happily am seeking out #newtomeauthors within traditional & Indie markets for today’s Contemporary & Historical INSPY novelists?

When it comes to Contemporary INSPY novelists – I have found quite a few #mustread authors over the years – Brenda S. Anderson is at the top of the list for me, as she writes Contemporary Realistic INSPY novels with a realism of depth, centering of faith and the hearty joy of stepping into characters you not only find believable but you find compelled to live through their footsteps. Kellie Coates Gilbert follows suit as she is placing me in heart of Contemporary issues facing all of us living in today’s chaotic world of uncertainty but with a faithful hope of centre and a truism of realistically emotionally driven dramas I simply don’t want to put down. Deeanne Gist held me in the grip of “Unravelled” but then ‘let go’ of Contemporary INSPY Suspense whereas Dee Henderson is one of the founding authors I read in INSPY Contemporary Suspense – she’s unparelled thus far except for the novelists who keep my heart in a lurch through #LoveINSPIRED Suspense.

Specific of course, is my admiration for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolina’s dedicated publishing of the STORIES I am most keen on reading – two of their authors have left a strong IMPRESSION on my readerly heart! Jennifer Lamont Leo has given me a wicked awesome & fiercely strong Marjorie Corrigan to rally behind whilst Brandy Bruce delves into Contemporary Realistic Romance!

I was hoping this series was available through Scribd (per my subscription) and/or if it had been a part of the Audible Romance package – as I renewed my Rom package in April but this series wasn’t inclusive of that package either. I decided to discontinue the Rom package in May as to be honest, I still find Scribd to be the best for audiobook listeners on a budget. One day, I’ll resume Audible on two fronts – a main account & the Rom package, however, til then, I’m resuming my pursuit of OverDrive selections from my local libraries and whichever authors I can find in genres I regularly seek out via Scribd. Thereby, I listened to the samplers on Audible instead for this series and added a few notes of interest to talk about what I like about this series and why it is one I dearly want to be listening to in the future.

Except to say, I did find out something rather remarkable! This SERIES begins with “Catch of a Lifetime” NOT “Dance Over Me”!! As my Rom package with Audible doesn’t expire until the second week of MAY – guess whose going to be #amlistening to the first novel now? I was a bit confused – as on Audible this series is listed as “Focus on Love” however, on this blog tour the series is called “The Wardrobe Series” – therein led to my initial confusion! I originally thought these were two separate series and not the same one – I am thinking PRISM might have not realised “Catch of a Lifetime” was with this series, too as this was the one book cover we didn’t receive to feature on our blogs.

I jumped at the chance to spotlight an author I’m looking forward to reading whilst at the same time, I love finding another author whose publishing with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas! Here’s to celebrating a publisher & the authors who are continuing to write the #INSPYbooks I am desiring to be reading! Til I get the proper chance to delve into this series by Ms Fick, come celebrate the #PubDay (the day after today – 1st of MAY – MAY Day) for #SingANewSong by reading this extract and following the spotlight tour via #SingANewSongTour on social – as each book blogger whose participating has another ‘piece’ of a glimpse into the novel!

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Blog Tour Spotlight | Celebrating “Sing A New Song” (The Wardrobe Series, Book Three) by Candee Fick An INSPY Contemporary Sweet Romance #newtomeauthor I’ve had my eyes on to be #amreading for awhile! Esp since last Summer’s INSPY Reading Binge Fest in JULY!Sing A New Song (Spotlight)
by Candee Fick

The pampered diva is about to meet her match

Songbird Gloria Houghton has always needed to be the center of attention, but the spotlight has shifted. Seeking fame and a fresh start, she finds a new stage in Branson, Missouri…only to risk being replaced by a manipulative rival. If Gloria can’t be the star, who is she?

Jack-of-all-trades Nick Sherwood is just one leaf on a vast family tree that includes a restaurant chef, hotel owners, and even the headline act at a family-owned theater. He’s seen how fame can blind a person with jealousy and is more than content to stay in the background thank you very much. If only he wasn’t so fascinated--and irritated--by the newest addition to the staff.

After a disaster of a first impression and financial difficulties land Gloria in the humblest of jobs—with Nick as her boss—it might be time for her to learn to sing a new song.

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Sweet Romance



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781645260554

Published by Bling! Romance

on 1st May, 2019

Published By: Bling Romance (@BlingRomance)
an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (@LPCTweets)

The Wardrobe Series:

Dance Over Me by Candee FickFocus On Love by Candee FickA Picture Perfect Christmas by Candee Fick

→ Catch of a Lifetime (one-off companion story)

Dance Over Me (book one)

Focus On Love (book two)

A Picture Perfect Christmas (book three)

Sing A New Song (book four)

(*) update: per the author’s note in the comments below, I’ve learnt the proper ordering of this series – it was more confusing trying to sort it out myself! I altered the order per her notes but I left the post stand as I had originally written it.

Converse via: #INSPYRomance + #SweetRomance
as well as #INSPYbooks + #Contemporary Romance

Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

About Candee Fick

Candee Fick

Candee Fick is a multi-published, award-winning author. She is also the wife of a high school football coach and the mother of three children, including a daughter with a rare genetic syndrome. When not busy writing, editing, or coaching other authors, she can be found cheering on the home team at sporting events, exploring the great Colorado outdoors, indulging in dark chocolate, and savoring happily-ever-after endings through a good book.

In addition to writing clean faith-based romance novels and Inspirational Non-Fiction, Candee coaches other authors with their marketing plans and offers content editing to aspiring novelists. She is a member of both American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network. Her fiction has semi-finaled, finaled, and won the ACFW Genesis Contest and Selah Awards.

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notations after listening to the audiobook samplers:

or how Jorie became introduced to the Wardrobe series

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catch of a lifetime:

We’re finding out about Reed – whose fresh on the grass coaching football, where his focus is on his coaching duties except for when his family is distracting his attention. Meanwhile, we’re also getting acquainted with Cassie – of whom is the romance interest in the story (per the synopsis) – Gannett doesn’t quite alter his tonal delivery of genders, rather he’s leaning on your ability to sort out who is whom based on the scene itself rather than giving you a defined change between Reed and Cassie’s voice. At first, it felt a bit distracting – aside from the pacing and syncing issue I outline below – as although I can forgive neutral gender voicing in narrations, if your having to juggle which character is being voiced and feel slightly uncomfortable in the quickness of the narrator’s performance – I find you will be hitting the repeat button a bit more frequently.

Even after the second hearing of this sampler, I only walked away with thinking Reed wasn’t putting much empathsis on Cassie – finding her not to be his cuppa tea. Although in truth, this is generally a good way of setting the scene for conflict and resolution in relationships as much as it leads-in to a plotting where oppostional personalities can become true love matches.

dance over me:

The voice coming through my headphones quite surprised me – as Gannett’s representation as a narrator has taken such a calming turn for the better! His performance has smoothed into a pace which feels a bit more natural than how I first heard him in Catch Of A Lifetime. Herein, it was easier to step into the plot – where Dani is a dancer who is encountering a period of life growth and contemplation. The best news of course, is how Gannett is starting to alter his voice and give you a chance to intuit the minor and secondary characters from the main cast.

His voice also is taking on a Southern accent and is much more convincing to believe your listening to a rounded cast of characters rather than listening to a direct narration of a singular voice. This is what impressed me the most with this sampler is seeing the personal growth and delivery of narration on behalf of the narrator!

focus on love:

As we start to focus in on Liz’s story, we were happily hearing about Dani and Alex (from Dance Over Me) which hints towards this series having built-in continuity. This is something I like to look for in serial fiction – how each new installment of a series ‘shifts forward’ and if the characters of the previous stories either re-appear properly or are just secondary references within the context of the new story-line. Now, uniquely enough, I found Gannett falling back on his pacing issues from Catch of a Lifetime – almost as if he recorded this story second rather than third? Quite confusing! He’s rushing his delivery again and I must admit, I miss the smooth transitions from Dance Over Me!

Ooh! We learnt how the series was named – the Wardrobe series is referencing the fact the whole series is inter-relating to the Wardrobe Dinner Theatre!! Now that’s a lovely point of reference to learn! I love this setting – as I still remember going to a dinner theatre when I was quite young seeing “Annie” which became a benchmark of my childhood.

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On the narration styling of Steven A. Gannett:

When I first played the sampler for Catch of a Lifetime, the pacing and tone of delivery of the narrator was a bit ‘off’ – Gannett’s voice went a bit in / out of vocal volume – however, it also felt like the narrator had fallen into that pattern of ‘rushing his words’ rather than taking his time to let the reader ‘hear’ the story as it was being told rather than feeling like it was rushing through their ears like a freight train! It took me a few turns round the sampler to get the gist of where we were alighting in the story-line – this is one difficulty with samplers – as they either make / break the audiobook. This particular sampler didn’t sway me against the narrator OR the story but it did give me cause of concern if the fuller delivery of the story was going to be a bit of a challenge to listen too.

I much preferred Gannett’s tone and voice representation of Dani’s characterisation in Dance Over Me – in theory, I was thinking he might have been a relatively new narrator when I first heard his voice performance in Catch of a Lifetime as he has truly slowed down his articulation within this story! For me, what was quite lovely is seeing his growth but also hearing his instincts in how to delivery his performance shifting as well – he was giving me a more theatrical narration rather than relying too heavily on spoken narrative to where it did not feel as if it were being performed per se but rather simply spoken aloud for someone who wanted to ‘hear’ the story. This second sampler was easier to alight inside as a result.

Hmm,… overall, I was a bit more distracted by Gannett’s performances than I first felt I might become which is leading me to believe I might attempt to seek these out in print through my library’s inter-library loan services rather than attempting to listen to the individual audiobooks through Audible. I’d rather lean on my own imagination without his interpretation of the stories and find myself in a better position to become acquainted with Fick’s characters.

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Read an Extract from “Sing A New Song”

The germ of an idea took root. She couldn’t dance as much anymore, thanks to her lingering knee issues, but dancing had never been her favorite part to begin with. Acting wasn’t that amazing either, since she’d been pretending her whole life to fill the role of the perfect daughter. For Gloria, it had always been about the music and the singing.

What if she found a stage and a show where all they did was sing … with maybe a little bit of choreography, but nothing as taxing as the extended tap-dancing numbers of her current job?

She turned away from the others crowded around the dressing rooms and looked for a quiet place to think as the idea grew. Was it possible to still be a part of the “glitz and glamour” of show business but only do what she enjoyed most?

As she passed the wings, she spotted Liz standing in the middle of the dimly lit stage. Beyond the closed curtain, several hundred people were finishing their meals and making their intermission dessert selections. The cast members scheduled to wait tables tonight would be hustling to refill drinks, while back near the dressing rooms others put the finishing touches on their stage makeup, double-checked costumes, or rehashed the casting decisions for the next production.

Next weekend Liz would be gone, pursuing a new chapter in her life. And Gloria would fill her shoes in the role of Milly, the first bride in the list of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. For four beautiful weekends, the bright lights would blind her to the audience as she lost herself in a fictional world through singing and dancing.

And then the spotlight would shift to a new star in the next play.

Gloria shook her head and moved toward Liz. “Saying goodbye or regretting your decision?”

“No regrets.” Liz turned to face her with a wistful smile on her face. “I’m glad you have the chance to take a lead role again, even if it’s only for a few weeks.”

Gloria quirked an eyebrow. “So you knew about that joke of a cast list?”

“No.” Liz glanced toward the dressing rooms. “I didn’t look since I wouldn’t be here, but I assume you’re not happy.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Gloria blew out a breath. “I’m stuck in the ensemble again. While Evan’s already flirting with his new costar. Ever since I hurt my knee, nothing’s gone my way around here.” A clumsy fall in her kitchen had torn her knee and ripped the starring role from her grasp, leaving behind the pain of dashed dreams and the nagging fear that she would never regain the spotlight.

“Nothing?” Liz gestured to the stage around them. “You’re about to be Milly.”

“A lot of good that will do, because the future isn’t looking so bright.”

“Some things are more important than the spotlight.”

“Well, I guess I haven’t found them yet.” Gloria looked around the stage area. Had it always been so small? “And I’m not sure I’ll ever find them here.”

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I am so thankful I am hosting this extract today – as I had originally felt I would have been smitten by the audiobook versions of this series but truth be told, as I’m reading the text of the story, I can find better traction than I can by listening to the narrator’s voice. This is not always the case, but as hearing an audiobook is a personal experience – each of us has a different reaction to the narrators who are voicing the stories we wish to be reading. For me, this is definitely a series I need to read in print – which is why I’ve marked myself a note to queue a copy of Catch Of A Lifetime from my library’s ILL services this July for the Clean Fiction readathon! It will be my 2nd Year participating and I can’t wait!

I think this series ought to have been called the Wardrobe Theatre series as it would immediately help signal where this series was set and what it involves – there is a lovely rooting of place within the extract I am sharing today. I find series which fall short to give us an immediate knowledge of what they are about sometimes takes a bit longer to understand. Irregardless of that observation – what I like about this series is how Fick is setting it up to move from one character to the next as they each in turn take their ‘cue’ to rise through a life challenging circumstance or a point of personal growth to where they can find hope out of whichever conflict is going to arise in their lives.

I love stories like this – where you can become wrapped inside a community of characters – either united through a passion they share (in this case it is theatrical performance or dance!) or through a connecting path they each walk within their own community. The beauty of course is taking the journey with them and this is one journey I look forward to taking come July!

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This blog tour is courtesy of:

Prism Book ToursAlthough I plan to binge on #INSPYbooks this JULY, as I’ll be participating in singing librarian’s readathon again – you’ll start to see a new featured showcase for INSPY stories during my #INSPYSundays – be sure to check them out!

Sing A New Song blog tour via Prism Book Tours
 I look forward to reading your thoughts & commentary!
Especially if you read the book or were thinking you might be inclined to read it. I appreciate hearing different points of view especially amongst readers who gravitate towards the same stories to read. Bookish conversations are always welcome!

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End of the Blog Tour badged provided by Prism Book ToursFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

{SOURCES: Book covers for “Dance Over Me”, “Focus On Love”, “A Picture Perfect Christmas” and “Sing A New Song”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Candee Fick, the tour host badge and Prism Book Tours badges were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.

I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Tuesday, 30 April, 2019 by jorielov in 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Modern Day, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction, Sweet Romance




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6 responses to “Blog Tour Spotlight | Celebrating “Sing A New Song” (The Wardrobe Series, Book Three) by Candee Fick An INSPY Contemporary Sweet Romance #newtomeauthor I’ve had my eyes on to be #amreading for awhile! Esp since last Summer’s INSPY Reading Binge Fest in JULY!

  1. Hi Jorie! Thanks so much for hosting my latest book on your blog and for your detailed comments about the audio book versions. It’s fascinating to “hear” feedback from readers about the narration instead of simply the story.

    To clarify: Catch of a Lifetime is a stand-alone novel while the Wardrobe series truly does begin with Dance Over Me. Last year, after the release of the 2nd book in this series, my publisher bundled the first three of my novels into a box set as a deal for readers and (perhaps confusingly??) named them the Focus On Love set. And as a note to readers, while the rest of the (true) series contains overlapping setting and secondary characters, I’ve tried to avoid spoilers and make it possible to read them in any order.

    Oh, in celebration of tomorrow’s release, my publisher has the first two in the series available for FREE on Kindle right now!

    • Hallo, Hallo Ms Fick!

      :) I appreciate your visit, today! I was truly finding the order of the series rather muddling to understand – now, I recognise it is because it went through a re-branding (of sorts) which does clarify a LOT of the issues I had in chasing down the order of the series! Bless you for blessing me with this information – I’ve modified how I ordered the series!

      I’ve been reviewing audiobooks as a book blogger since 2016 – through this process, I’ve garnished a bit of a format for how I approach listening to the audiobooks – first as a reader, secondly as a book blogger reviewer. I’ve developed my own style of questions I ask myself as I’m listening to them – however, in this instance, I pared it back to a simple question of my first impressions on behalf of the narrator rather than to get into the heart/bones of how he addressed the individual characters or other aspects of the plot, etc – as my audiobook reviews go into more details wherein I give a more detailed focus on how the narrator won me over or irked my ire; laughs. Second to the sub-focus of the narration itself, I do go into an expansive overview of my impressions on behalf of the stories and the content therein. I always feel the authors might enjoy knowing how my mind settled into their story and what I was able to draw out of the audiobook version. Thereby, thank you for appreciating my notes on your narrator as I always hope my approach to stay openly honest about what I am reading and listening to will be of interest to the authors themselves.

      I did notice your publisher is offering these for free for digital readers – I hadn’t mentioned it as I was focusing on the audiobook and print editions as I’m a traditional reader myself (ie. due to chronic migraines I do not read ebooks) – however, for those who are following this lovely blog tour, I know they will appreciate your reminder of the sale. I do try to encourage readers I know who read ebooks to take advantage of these offers as I do this quite regularly on my chat @SatBookChat wherein I discuss Romance and Women’s Fiction on a monthly basis.

      I’m just a stickler for reading series in sequence of order – except for when I’m a) unaware of the series in progress and/or b) I sometimes can’t get all the stories I need wherein I try to read at least the first novel, the last novel and the current novel to gain traction in the continuity of the author’s style, voice and approach to crafting their series together.

      Again, I was delighted you’ve dropped by – Ms Silverwood left you a note on here as well about how much she loved reading this story! Her and I have the tendency of appreciating the same authors – which is why I had such a BIG smile when I saw her comment come through! :)

  2. Jennifer Silverwood

    Hey Jorie! Saw you were also on this tour :D I had the chance to read this book and was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. The author has drawn on several different themes and shows fantastic character growth for 3-dimensional characters, not just the MC. Loved reading about your thoughts for the rest of the series! Like you, I didn’t realize this was part of a larger series until mid-way through. Thanks for sharing as usual, Jorie!

    • *waves!* Ms Silverwood,

      Thanks for dropping by my blog tour stop – I appreciate your thoughts on behalf of this series, as I found it to be quite confusing to sort out! I was thankful Ms Fick also dropped by to clarify a few issues for me – such as where does “Catch of a Lifetime” fall within the Wardrobe series (or outside of it?) inasmuch as I was thankful she saw my notes on behalf of the narrator. I think that is actually what surprised me the most – my takeaways for the narrator of the series! I did see these avail from my library in print, so that gave me the best hope in thinking I’ll have a better impression once I can fetch those editions come July. Similar to you – I love seeking out the kind of layering effect in a story-line!

      Isn’t this the truth!? Sometimes you and I get blindsided by ‘series’ – it used to happen in rapid succession whenever I tried to read a Harlequin Heartwarming story – to the point where I had to just be flexible and ‘go with it’ before I could move back through the series. I’ll have to remember to tag you in on my future thoughts on behalf of this series when I rock out reading INSPY in July!

      • Jennifer Silverwood

        Oh awesome you’re going to do a month of reading in July? Definitely tag me when you think of it because I’d love to share more reads. I used to read a lot of INSPY before I started writing a lot of fantasy. Since I was writing in the genre, I read more and more there these days. But I have a real big soft spot for INSPY lit. Absolutely love books by Francine Rivers and Liz Curtis Higgs, so I was more than happy to discover Candee’s work :)

        • OOh I definitely am! :) It was one of the highlights of [2018] for me – I didn’t even get halfway through my TBR for the month either! lol I just enjoyed being able to read for the joy of it w/o thinking about reviewing the stories; I just did light recaps about them, though in truth, I didn’t get to talk about Hope Harbour by Irene Hannon like I had planned. I am thinking of re-reading the novel (not to count towards the readathon though) and then, reading the second book in sequence (to count for the readathon) – plus, I *won!* some lovely books last year I never had the chance to read either, as I had those long months of illness, strife and migraines.

          I know I’ll also be reading loads of the Suspense novels from #LoveINSPIRED as those are just pure happiness to me to be reading. I haven’t sorted out my TBR yet but ooh definitely! As I start/stop the stories this year, I’ll just remember to tag you and say “guess what I just read!” When I do my recap posts, I’ll do the same – that way you’ll get the ‘notes’ about what I loved, too! If you want a few posts to read from last year here were my top favourites I shared: Joining the INSPY readathon | The stories I loved reading most

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