Blog Book Tour for #LoveINSPIRED Suspense | “Fatal Memories” by Tanya Stowe the imprint #JorieReads with her Mum!

Posted Tuesday, 3 September, 2019 by jorielov , , , 4 Comments

Book Review badge created by Jorie in Canva using Unsplash.com photography (Creative Commons Zero).

Acquired Book By: I have been hosting blog tours with Cedar Fort Publishing and Media for several years now, wherein their new blog tour publicist (Ms Sydney Anderson) also runs her own publicity touring company: Singing Librarian Book Tours (or SLB Tours for short!). I happily joined her team of book bloggers as a hostess in late Spring, 2018 wherein my first tours with her as a hostess began Summer, 2018. I appreciate reading INSPY literature and was happy to find these are most of the stories she is showcasing through SLB Tours! Most of her authors are published through Cedar Fort, though she does work with authors who are either Self-Published or Indie published through different publishers as well.

I received a complimentary copy of “Fatal Memories” direct from the author Tanya Stowe in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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Why I share a love of Love Inspired Suspense with my Mum:

In 2018, in July I had a delightful time participating in my first readathon which not only ENCOURAGED you to read more INSPY novels but it was a bit of a competition as well. It was a lovely concept created by Singing Librarian Books and you can read a bit about why I loved joining the readaathon whilst I also posted a small recap of my adventures. This was building on the fact earlier in [2018] I had encouraged my Mum to start reading the Love Inspired Suspense novels as she needed some down-time from her 12 hour shifts. The stories were portable and just long enough to give her a wicked good read but without the worry of not being able to finish them. In July, you see, it was my turn to sink my teeth into the imprint’s offerings and I started to quickly find #mustread authors! Readathons are brilliant for that – their this concentrated period of time to read select stories of interest to the reader & they give you hours of #bookJOY afterwards!!

This past July, 2019 – I carried on the tradition of reading #LoveINSPIRED Suspense novels – which you can find talked about in a *thread I maintained on my feeds for Twitter. I wasn’t able to blog or share my readerly adventures in the traditional sense this year, however, I did write a few short reviews via my LibraryThing archives in order to remember the stories I had read and which ones had staid with me after the readathon had concluded.

We have a shared passion for INSPY stories – short or long in length as we used to belong to the subscription service *Heartsong Presents*. Eventually we’d love to join the subscription service for these lovely novels as the beauty of reading them is having a high octane Suspense driven plot with realistic characters, back-stories & a jarring sense of Contemporary life – all caught inside the folds of an Inspirational (ie. Christian) vein of thought.

I read a wide variety of INSPY Lit, but my favourites are the ones which gently are layered with arcs of faith and the character’s spirituality as I love reading the stories where their faith is shown through their example, life’s choices and the personal growth they undertake through their character’s journey. I had a delightful time in July reading my first batch of #LoveINSPIRED Suspense novels and it is a joy for me to participate on a blog tour which celebrates this wicked sweet line of books my Mum & I love devouring!

It is a true pleasure to be on this blog tour – discovering a #newtomeauthor for this imprint but also, to have the chance to read a Contemporary Suspense whilst reminding myself I need to put more of these in my readerly path this year! Even without the readathon to encourage me forward – which gave me the chance to win some books along the way, I just love reading these kinds of stories! I have been blessed by hosting my second blog tour for this lovely imprint and I couldn’t be happier to continue to talk about why I love these stories & the authors who pen them!

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Blog Book Tour for #LoveINSPIRED Suspense | “Fatal Memories” by Tanya Stowe the imprint #JorieReads with her Mum!Fatal Memories
by Tanya Stowe
Source: Direct from Author via SLB Tours

She was framed! Or was she?

If only she could remember…

Border patrol agent Jocelyn Walker has no memory of how she turned up unconscious with a cache of drugs—or why a gang is dead set on killing her. With evidence stacking up against her, Joss takes refuge with driven DEA agent Dylan Murphy, who guards—and suspects— her. But will finally trusting each other lead them into a trap they’ll never escape?

Genres: Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romantic Suspense



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335679222

Published by Love INSPIRED

on 3rd September, 2019

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 288

Published by: Love Inspired (@LoveInspiredBks)
an imprint of Harlequin Books (@HarlequinBooks), a subsidiary of HarperCollins

Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

More Love Inspired Suspense by this author:

Mojave Rescue (2018)

Fatal Memories (2019)

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Converse via: #INSPY #LoveINSPIRED #Suspense

About Tanya Stowe

Tanya Stowe

Tanya Stowe is an author of Christian Fiction with an unexpected edge. She fills her stories with the unusual…mysteries and exotic adventures, even a murder or two. No matter where Tanya takes you…on a trip to foreign lands or a suspenseful journey filled with danger…be prepared for the extraordinary.

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my review of fatal memories:

Usually when I arrive inside Love Inspired Suspense novel, I don’t feel like I’m at a bit of a disadvantage as I do with Fatal Memories – as we’re arriving after a tragedy has happened, which places a heap of blame onto the lead heroine’s shoulders rather than giving us a firm chance to get to know her before all of this erupted into her life. It made sense, of course, to work backwards to clear her name or to sort out why she could be guilty; though on the offset, there was something that felt fishy in that regard to me even before the full facts were given to explain what she was doing when everything went haywire. This is one reason I love these stories and the imprint who publishes them – there is a line of believably within them, to where you trust your instincts to seek out the truth even before the truth has a chance to be revealled to you.

In this instance, it felt a bit odd that an agent would be caught dead to rights with a stash without the ability to remember anything at all afterwards. Something felt off a bit in that – how perhaps something else was happening at the time of her accident and the ways in which the DC agent was getting a read on the situation just rankled more towards how some people like to jump into judging people without the foundation of ‘why’ and ‘how’. This was an interesting place to arrive in the story, as we find Dylan Murphy the one person you’d love to try hard not to feel impressed by as he has this cowboy attitude of rushing into conclusions even after having learnt a bit about someone prior to the unthinkable happening. I thought that was the most interesting of all – these two had worked together and he already wanted to stack a case against Jocelyn as if that was the most normal course of action he ought to take at this junction!

Conflicted internally and emotionally distraught is a good way to describe to Dylan; as the man cannot seem to settle his thoughts nor his own judgements on the situation. He has an interest in the stakes Joss was caught inside but what he keeps close to his heart are the reasons why he can relate to her as I had the feeling Dylan isn’t the kind of bloke who would confide in someone unless he felt he could truly trust them with the information. He had a lot of stored guilt in his conscience and that was in part what was fuelling him forward to investigate this agent. Uniquely, due to his conflictions, you see different sides of how he’s approaching the investigation – first he wants to convince Joss’s boss that she’s guilty behind a doubt but then, he loosens up a bit on that approach and talks more about finding the conviction of her innocence or guilt before drawing the final line on her grave so to speak. The best chance of course for Joss to be in the clear is for her memories to return but that’s the hard bit to amnesia, you can’t control what you’ve lost or what you might on day recover; which felt like Joss herself was caught in sea of chaos even past the point of where she lost her respect as a team member of her law enforcement unit.

I had to agree with Joss’s boss – Dylan had this desire to prove something so intensely it was starting to blindside him to everything else. He wasn’t conflicted on the larger points of his life – where he stood with his faith and how he wanted to live his own life, but where he stumbled was where he placed his trust in others and how his inability to trust others sometimes bled into his role as an investigator as he didn’t necessarily treat everyone as fairly as you felt he ought too. It was a double-bladed sword really, as Dylan for the worst of his faults, was just trying to do his job the best way he knew how but it was his methods which bothered the team inasmuch as they bothered me.

Joss for her part, was at that junction of unknown – where you come back halfway and have to work hard to put the rest of your life back to order especially when there is a blockage of memory! Her role was the hardest of the lot because she didn’t truly understand what she had known previously against what she was learning now; she only had rumours of insight, little internal nudges of things that she needed to remember but without the knowledge of what she was trying to encourage herself to remember it felt futile to even speculate how to try to recover those lost memories. You can feel her despair even though Joss is a calm and optimistic person, everyone has their limits for what they can handle and what they are willing to take on faith.

My favourite character truly was her boss, Holmquist as his motives felt pure enough – to where he cared for his team and the outcome of Joss’s time to self-heal. Of course, its hard to know whom to trust in story which has a complicated arc within it such as this one, but one thing felt true to me as I read the story – Holmquist had a distinctive trust and respect for Jocelyn.

I felt bad for Joss in one regard – when you don’t have your memories, the hardest part is reconciling what you learn as your recovering them. For her, no one is above suspicion and that placed the tension closer to home than she might have preferred. It also gave her ample time to consider the ramifications of the case they were still investigating but also, her role in the cave’s collapse or rather, why she was in that cave at the time it collapsed. As she fought for the stability of her memories, she was given a cascade of reasons to distrust what she previously felt she could trust – not just in co-workers but of family and even, which of her friends’ were the kind of friends that would never forsake you when times went adverse. She was re-learning not just about herself but about her entire world – as she reconstructed her mind through the process of healing after the injury, she was also being given a second chance to truly see what was round her and the persons she wanted most to be involved in her life. For that ability, she felt blessed to me because you don’t often get the chance to re-access and take new stock at how you’ve built your life.

on the contemporary inspy styling of tanya stowe:

Stowe doesn’t let you sit and linger in the setting for long – she pulls you into an intense thread of danger the moment you open the book and lets the story set its own unique pace from there to keep you in the grip of what is happening to her characters.

What you enjoy about how Stowe has written the novel is that you have to table your own thoughts about her characters for awhile. She lets you peer into Joss’s life at the point of loss from her memories to where its hard to even ascertain who she had been prior to the accident in the cave. This gives you ample reason to mistrust her, but I like to take the chance that someone has been set-up rather than has been purposefully misleading their own team. There are a lot of different explanations to why her behaviour had been stilted and changing up til the moment where she had to be hospitalised to recover from her injuries and those were the missing pieces of information which kept me rooted in the novel.

To see how Stowe would pierce this story together and to see how all the bits of information would then formulate the catalyst of what really happened is half the joy of reading the suspense novels by Love Inspired because you know you can handle the journey your about to embark on! You get to be gripped by the action and caught in the height of the drama but one reason I love these novels is how their written. You can find an inspiring thread of light moving throughout the narratives and it is that kind of light that is a joy to see within the layers of suspense. Similar of course, to why I enjoy the Mysteries on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries such as Darrow & Darrow; Aurora Teagarden, Murder, She Baked and others like them.

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This Blog Tour Stop is courtesy of SLB Tours:

Singing Librarian Book Tours blog tour hostess badge is provided by SLB Tours and is used with permission.

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Follow the Virtual Road Map

by visiting the blog tour route:

especially as this is a tour offering a special giveaway

Fatal Memories blog tour via Singing Librarian BooksFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

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 picked up the same story to read.

If you love reading these kinds of INSPY Realistic Contemporary stories – kindly let me know some of your favourites – titles, series and authors – as I am always open to expanding what I am reading, as this is one area of literature it takes me a bit of time to research and source the kinds of authors who are writing stories I feel are the ones I’d enjoy the most to read!

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Reading this story counted towards my reading challenges for 2019:

2019 New Release Challenge created by mylimabeandesigns.com for unconventionalbookworms.com and is used with permission.

This review will be cross-posted to LibraryThing.

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{SOURCES: Book cover of “Fatal Memories”, book synposis, author photograph of Tanya Stowe, author biography, the blog tour banner and SLB Tours badge were all provided by SLB Tours and used with permission. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. 2019 New Release Challenge badge provided by unconventionalbookworms.com. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Review Banner using Unsplash.com (Creative Commons Zero) Photography by Frank McKenna; Post Script banner (created using: Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo) and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.

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

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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, 3 September, 2019 by jorielov in 21st Century, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Singing Librarian Book Tours, Sweet Romance




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4 responses to “Blog Book Tour for #LoveINSPIRED Suspense | “Fatal Memories” by Tanya Stowe the imprint #JorieReads with her Mum!

  1. Thank you for your kind words, Jorie. Because I am so family oriented, amnesia stories hit me where it hurts. I can’t image what it might be like not to know the ones you love. By your kind words, I think I came close to capturing some of the emotions. Thanks again!

    • Hallo, Hallo Ms Stowe,

      Like you, I just cannot imagine what it would be like for myself either OR a member of my family to have to go through this kind of experience. It is hard enough when you lose portions of your memory through the after effects of a stroke (such as my Dad) or through Parkinson’s / Alzheimer’s (which run in my family) — but to have it taken away like this? It is truly unthinkable because so little is known about what causes it and how it can become returnt. You definitely had me ‘there’ emotionally — it is an emotionally convicting story in that regard. I am so thankful my words and reflections gave you a positive uplift in knowing you gave that to your readers.

      Truly grateful you visited with me recently and enjoyed your time here on Jorie Loves A Story.

    • Hallo, Hallo Ms Stowe,

      I appreciate your visit to my blog! :) I have such a fierce attachment to the Love Inspired Suspense line of novels! I try to keep up with my Mum, however, she has the joy of being able to read them a bit faster than I can as she has long hours on her shifts. I keep trying to read the stories after she finishes them and likewise, whenever I spy a blog tour featuring a new author from the imprint itself, I am always dearly grateful whenever I can make the tour. It was quite lovely being able to ‘meet’ your style within the scope of these stories and to find how you treated the amnesia which I was quite impressed by as you wrote it in such a realistic way, I nearly felt like she had honestly ‘lost’ her memory! Love when fiction emotes such strong emotions and reactions because it makes reading a bit more exciting, I think! So thankful to find your contribution to LI: Suspense!

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