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.
This particular book review was meant to run closer to the actual blog tour – I even had planned to run the interview separate to make the tour route – however, all my plans to make the tour fell by the wayside as I had too much happening during the week of the tour. I sadly was not in the right frame of mind to focus on my blog and this particular post (the review and the interview) took up residence in my Drafts folder. The interview was ready to share but the review was yet to be composed due to the fact I still needed to read the book. Thus, as September starts to draw to a close, I realised I still hadn’t re-directed my focus back to this novel and decided as Summer starts to close, it is time to finally reveall my thoughts and the conversation which took place between myself and Ms Loveless.
I received a complimentary copy of “Enduring Promises of the Heart” direct from the publisher Sweetwater Books (an imprint of Cedar Fort Publishing & Media) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why this particular story perked an interest to read:
I have a soft spot in my bookish heart for the Pure Romance series from Cedar Fort’s imprint Sweetwater Books as I have been reading these stories for nearly the full life of Jorie Loves A Story. I personally love gentle fiction, sweet romance and INSPY romantic story arcs overall which is why finding this imprint series of stories interweaving through Historical Romance plots and timescapes truly was a wicked sweet fit for me as a reader.
I used to read and review stories directly with Cedar Fort, however, over the years, the publicity department has changed a bit about how they approach reviews and marketing with book bloggers. This is why when I discovered the outreach through Singing Librarian Books, I was especially thankful to know I could continue to read and review for the imprints I enjoy through Cedar Fort but with the added benefit of seeking out new authors who are either Independently published and/or are being featured from Cedar Fort itself.
In this instance, I loved the premise of the novel but what really caught my eye is this is the newest release (or it was) for the Pure Romance line. I’d love to collect more stories from this series – each of the ones I have linked through my blog (in the book info section below) were delightful joys to discover reading. They each provide something different and one of them was a bit more of a historical romantic satire of a novel than a dramatic romance which I loved as it gave new meaning to how you can represent a romance set in the historic past.
Besides who doesn’t want to tuck close to a story where the lead character is wicked attached to serialied romance story in the local paper?
Enduring Promises of the Heart
Subtitle: Pure Romance
by Valerie Loveless
Source: Direct from Publisher
“What if I told you there is a way that we could all be happy? That if I were to propose to you, your father couldn’t deny us?” “What is it, John? Tell me!”
Just then the basket hit the water and the sea began to stream in through the spaces between the reeds. This was the end.
The year is 1887, and the small community of Pleasant View is abuzz over Penelope Pottifer’s serialized romances in the local paper. Since the release of the first volume, the thrilling story has captured the hearts and minds of the entire town— and several towns over!
Each successive edition of the Pleasant View Gazette spins a breathtaking tale of kidnappers, pirates, and forbidden love. Between volumes, however, Pleasant View resident Mary Clarence, the story’s toughest critic, hears a rumor that Penelope Pottifer is not, in fact, the author’s real name. Determined to uncover the mystery, Mary drags her friend Elizabeth Black into a hunt for the elusive author’s true identity. But fiction and reality seem to entwine when along the way, Mary and Liz discover unexpected truths, exciting adventures, and dramatic romances of their own.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781462123070
Also in this series: Willow Springs, Sophia, The Second Season, To Suit a Suitor, Mischief & Manors, Unexpected Love, Lies & Letters, The Darkest Summer, The Secret of Haversham House, Love and Secrets at Cassfield Manor, Book Spotlight: The Promise of Miss Spencer
Published by Sweetwater Books
on 8th January, 2019
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 240
Published By: Sweetwater Books (@SweetwaterBooks),
an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFortBooks)
Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #PureRomance, #INSPYRomance, #INSPYbooks or #CleanRomance
a note about the way this story unfolds:
Although I knew this was a story about a serialised romance in the local paper, I wasn’t entirely sure how it was going to unfold. If I hadn’t recently seen a Hallmark Channel movie called Dear Viola starring Kellie Martin, I might not have smirked as much as this novel started to reveal itself as similar to this serial, the film broached the idea behind having an advice column in a local community’s paper become “the” section the circulation populace loved reading the most!
When you first pick up the novel, you are greeted by one of the ‘readers’ of “enduring promises of the heart” which is the name of the serial itself as it runs in the Gazette – from there, you dive straight into the drama of the romance which is building as you hug close to the two leads of the story-line: Lavender and John; who appear to be nearly star-crossed in their pursuit of each other!
my review of enduring promises of the heart:
We’ve all had moments like Mary! Where someone catches us reading something we’d rather avoid having to talk about – maybe it was a light and fluffy book rather than a more serious tome of thought – in her case, it is the serial story known as “Enduring Promises of the Heart” – where each edition of her local Gazette holds new clues towards how Lavender and John are carrying on in their relationship! You can see why she might blush with unwanted embarrassment whenever someone would pop in on her reading the story-line – especially considering one of those persons was her father! Although, from how he winked at her, you had to wonder, was he really in the dark or just letting her have her bit of fun without capitalising on it?
Methinks we’ve stumbled across the writer behind the serial, dear hearts! Not that it is fully revealled but there is a foreshadow towards that reveal and it was a happy surprise! I wonder what others thought about how this might re-align how Mary sees her world because of how she didn’t pick up on whom the writer behind her favourite story was actually someone rather dear to her in life? Makes you consider that someone somewhere might be giving you hours of joy just by how they are sharing their own writings. It was definitely a way of staying incognito in plain sight!
The fuller irony is how much Mary tries to diffuse her interest in the serial itself – how she finds fault with herself in liking the story and for even admitting this in person to those who know her best in towne is something that seems to strike against her soul. I can’t imagine what would be embarrassing about reading it when the whole towne is full of gossip and theories about what is going on in the serial! They truly are reading it as a community and the more you see the talk surrounding it the more you can gently pick up the clues towards whom the writer is and how much it would impact this towne to know the person’s true identity as you could already surmise their using a pen name.
As Mary and her bestie Liz made their route through towne, they determined two things straight off the bat – no one in towne knows who is penning these stories (but we do, don’t we dear hearts?) and everyone has a pull inside them to continue reading the story as soon as a new installment releases through the Gazette! No one can put it down long enough to talk to each other unless it is to compare notes about Lavender and John! Laughs.
You have to love a good gentle mystery wherein someone doesn’t yet realise what they know is the best fodder of joy they could embrace in small towne living! There is a key reason why the story-teller wishes to remain anonymous in the beginning – you can feel for their reasons even if you think once the curtain drops and their identity is revealled (if it comes to that) will their reputation save them or will public scrutiny be rather intense because no one would have felt that the writer is the writer and therefore, the reality surrounding them might be more awkward than they first realised possible? In other words – what happens when the illusion breaks? Will they be accepted?
The most interesting aspect of the story really is how the towne is influencing the writer behind the serial itself – they have their ear to the gossip-mongers, where they overhear the most unique observations on behalf of the story itself! Not intriguing enough, too boring or sometimes the responses are even more interesting because it is not about the story but rather the characters, their choices and how the story is evolving forward in ways no one suspected. The fact the writer is using the towne as a potboiler of intrigue to fuse into the serial itself is an interesting aspect of the plotting of the novel. It is proves how writers can use their locality and environment of living to creatively fuse realism into their stories but in ways others round them might not even choose to recognise nor notice possible.
From here though – I found myself stalling out a bit in reading the novel. It seemed like a lot of the issues I was having initially to follow the queues as they came along in the story were fracturing the joy of reading the novel towards the middle bits. What was most frustrating is the fact I still felt the shifts in perspectives from dialogue to action sequences were a bit rough round the edges and sometimes a scene felt it needed to be a bit refreshed to flow a a bit easier. The segues between the towne and the serialised story became a bit too frequent as it started to overtake the main story-line involving the girls’ Mary and Liz. Their story was truly at the heart of Enduring Promises of the Heart but the fictionalised world of the serial was now more important than their own story and that felt like a misfire for me?
It is light-hearted and has the components of a Historical Sweet Romance but of the rest of the Pure Romance stories I’ve read, this is only the second to disappoint me to where I didn’t feel as hugged close to the characters as there were a few too many wrinkles of disappointment to trudge through to the brink I did not finish my readings of it. I would say this would be better suited for a reader who can follow the story without feeling they are missing something in how it was told.
Small wrinkle of annoyment:
The only downside in the novel truly is the fact there is a high level of autocorrecting – from the language usage of the characters to the mannerisms and personality faults and quirks. When it first started happening it was cute and coy even but now that it is happening nearly on every page whenever a character is in-scene or in the mist of talking to another character, it is becoming a bit undone at the seams. You don’t have to draw attention to those kinds of moments ‘all the time’ as once in a blue moon maybe is ample enough to get the point across. And, despite this being on the INSPY side of the ledger and a Sweet Historical Romance to boot – half the words being outed as of ‘strong nature’ are really just ordinary words said in haste and are not exactly the kind of words you would expect to be reprimanded over!
on the inspy historical styling of valerie loveless:
I love when writers have multiple POVs in their stories – Ms Loveless had the added bonus of creating this whole sub-set of a world within her world. Where the characters of the serial story known as ‘Enduring Promises of the Heart” are just as captivating as her main thread of story and characters, as this serial points towards the hopefulness of romance and how smitten you can become by a story which takes you off-guard for how compelling the lives of the characters become in each new installment which becomes revealled. I can see why readers liked serials – in both newspapers and magazines. It gave you a chance to ‘read’ an episodic story long before television (similar to the radio plays) could entertain you and the added benefit is that you just never knew when you’d run into something new and exciting within the time-frame of the story!
There are a few places in the story where I thought could have been fleshed out a bit more or toned up a bit as it was a bit confusing in the dialogue and/or in the action segues – but outside of those small infractions what holds you rooted in the novel is the fact there is this large mystery surrounding the writer of a homespun romance which is featured in the paper! Everyone reads the story and no one knows who the writer is which makes it all more exciting really! Loveless has inserted this serial directly into the context of her novel – making this a novel in two separate but equal parts of enjoyment! As you pull closer to her characters, you also tuck harder into the serial itself – vying for as much new information as the townesfolk who want to see a happier ever after for the young couple!
Notation of curiosity about the cover art:
Although this might be a bit of a nitpick, the cover art shows a typewriter – leading you to believe the authoress of the serial inside the novel is typing her notes and stories rather than using ink and quill to paper. The truth of it really is that the stories are hand-written not typed and that seemed to be quite the large faux pas for the cover art? The best part they nailed though is the pirate ship looming off the woman’s left shoulder in the background – as that eludes a bit to the serial story and to the addiction the towne has on reading the serial story.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts,
I am featuring a new author via the Pure Romance imprint I love from Cedar Fort! Especially as this particular imprint is curated of Sweet Romances & inspiring INSPY story-lines!
What do you love most about period dramas & romances? Which elements of these stories do you feel are timeless & continue to resonate with your bookish heart?
Loveless responds: What draws me to period Romances is the clean nature of the time period. Being a Christian myself, I want to read uplifting literature that won’t fill my mind with smut. Finding contemporary stories that aren’t skewed by our society’s ills and lower morality standards can be difficult and usually means the story is geared toward teens or children. Period Romances are geared toward women but are clean in nature.
They also express a time of simplicity that I quite enjoy. Day to day life was slower and less complicated. In contrast, the hierarchy of socialiality was very complicated and I find it very interesting and entertaining.
The timelessness is in the romance itself. We’ve all had those first-touch butterflies and awkward, longing glances and this transcends time.
I have been wanting to compose a response to this answer since I first received it but I still am unsure how to respond as it is a distinct difference of opinion when it comes to Contemporary & Historical Romances in the mainstream vs the INSPY sphere. I do agree some Romances go too far for my own tastes but this felt overhanded to simply erase ‘all of them’ when in reality there are wicked good writers in both the mainstream and INSPY markets who are writing stories gentle readers of Sweet Romances would love to find – the Harlequin Heartwarming imprint and the Love Inspired Suspense imprint are two examples of mainstream offerings which fit what readers are seeking.
As a debut novelist whose found her writerly passion in the process of composing her first story – what do you want to focus on next as you continue to pursue your stories?
Loveless responds: For now, I am focusing on the second installment of Enduring Promises of the Heart. I feel like there is still more story to tell. I am also working on a short story series that is a prequel to the novel. I am focused on giving the reader the story that they want– Even if they don’t know it. You may not realize when you pick up my book that you are in for an adventure and will have lots of laughs, but I think it’s the kind of soul food we all need from time to time; a breakaway from the usual; a stop off the bus of the mundane.
Do you want to stay within the #HistRom branch of Romance and if so, which periods of history do you want to explore or perhaps stay within the 19th Century?
Loveless responds: Enduring Promises of the Heart already branches out of the norm of Historical Romance. It’s quite a twisty tale with a lot satire, and sarcasm, which I have not really found in any other historical romance writers out there. One underlying message of the book is that romance stories are silly and unrealistic but they still tug at our heartstrings and envelop our minds.
I have plans to write a Contemporary Science Fiction romance when I am done with this series. I’ve got a plot that I can’t get out of my head. I keeps me up at night. I don’t know exactly where I will go, but both Science Fiction and period romance are my passion, so you can expect both of those from me in the future. I know it’s a strange combination, but it really reflects my upbringing from my dad introducing me to Classic Sci Fi and my mom to Pride and Prejudice.
How did you conceptualize the idea for Penelope – a writer whose using a pen name and whose identity is unknown even to her editor? I was curious about the inspiration behind the character but also what you’ve enjoyed about developing the personality of the ‘writer’ behind the name?
Loveless responds: First- a little behind the scenes tidbit, Penelope is my oldest sisters name– In the Victorian era, even in the Americas, with society telling women exactly how they must behave, it seemed natural that if you were to write a scandalous romance story, you wouldn’t want anyone to know it was you. Especially if you wished to stay in good standing in your community. That was my thought behind it. The true writer was the most unlikely of people. No one would suspect him/her because they were average, not even the closest friends and family. That understanding of this characters predictability and averageness, is what shaped who they became.
I think that the darker parts of all of us like having a secret and it’s just as fun to write about as actually having one– without the detriment to our personal lives that harboring secrets actually has! As for developing the character, they are like most of us as well, average looking, acting and seeming on the outside, but hidden, extraordinary talents on the inside, just waiting for the right light to showcase. Some people never get this opportunity, this character did. How would I handle it? Not as well as them, I think. So that was always a good rule to follow for this character– What would I do? Now, scale it back some…
I truly agree about writing uplifting works of literature in a world which is as uncertain as generations past where a light of joy can be threaded into the stories we’re reading – not that there can’t be adversity for characters but you want to feel uplifted by story’s end. Which authors of Historical Romance give you that wicked good uplift and which eras in history do you love to read for pleasure?
Loveless responds: I stick with the master of feel good romance, Jane Austen. She once said that all of her characters would have happy endings. I feel like there is no point in introducing a fictional story into your head that doesn’t have a happy ending. The world will make enough Non-Fiction sad endings so why torture yourself further. Another book (and movie) that I can’t get over is North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is slightly darker than Miss Austen’s stories but it ends very light. As I mentioned before, Sci-fi also makes my heart sing, but it’s really hard to find wholesome sci-fi now days, you need to go back to the Classics for that, Rendezvous with Rama comes to mind as one of my early favorites, but the sequels were disappointing. Sci-fi books uplift me in a way that romance does not. It’s very cerebral.
Which secondary character surprised you for becoming one of the characters you felt had the most to give or share outside of the main cast? What made you smile the most as you created their presence in the story?
Loveless responds: Captain Morose really surprised me, as strange as that seems to say, since he came from my mind. He just kept coming back and he actually has a pretty solid backstory that I go briefly into. He’s not what you think. He’s more than just a pirate and he’s got a lot more heart that anyone would know.
Another character I love is Nan Fey Gallagher. She was a really fun alter ego of mine to write about. Everything bad we all think about doing, she actually does. I just had a lot of fun with her character and the things she says and does.
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As previously mentioned above my review – despite the fact I had forgotten about this blog tour during a month of personal adversities and through a difficult spring with my chronic migraines afflicting me, I wanted to still read and showcase this novel. I found the interview still awaiting to be released – apparently, I had it ready to share during the blog tour but something took my attention away that week and unfortunately it never went into my blog’s feeds. I truly am sorry to both my readers and the author; as I had intended to release the interview for the tour and read the novel afterwards – sometimes in our lives things do not pull together for us. I am hopeful my readers will enjoy finding out about the latest Pure Romance release as I have always loved reading these stories and have found many lovely authors to follow as a result!
I was significantly delayed in re-visiting this post – Summer had its own tides of adversities and this September I realised I still had this in queue! The book was winking at me on my bookshelf and I was grieving the fact I never had the chance to post this review and the complimenting interview. Despite the lengths of delays, I am hopeful my readers will love finding out about this author, her story and the ways in which I enjoyed reading “Enduring Promises of the Heart”!
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This one sounds really good, I will have to check it out next time I’m looking for a romance. :)
Hallo, Hallo Lisa,
I’m glad this story has found a better home with you! :) I liked some of the aspects of the story – I, personally, loved who the writer is in the narrative as that was such a clever component of the background of the story-line. You’ll have to let me know your final thoughts if/when you get to pick up a copy – as I’d be curious if it was a solid fit and that you loved all of it. To me that is wonderful as not all stories are meant for us – sometimes we’re meant to talk about stories which are meant for others. Appreciate your thoughts!