Month: January 2020

TopTenTuesday XI | The Top Ten Most Anticipated New Releases for 2020! (thus far!)

Posted Tuesday, 28 January, 2020 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 16 Comments

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[Official Blurb] Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature / weekly meme created by The Broke & the Bookish. The meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke & the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your Top 10 Lists! In January, 2018 this meme is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

[Topic of 28th January, 2020:

The Top Ten Most Anticipated New Releases for 2020! (thus far!);

in lieu of Book Cover Freebie as I was delayed writing this
when the topic was originally featured on the 7th of January!]

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Top Ten Most Anticipated New Releases for 2020 banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Today’s entry was inspiring to me for the following reasons:

I’ve been wanting to showcase the STORIES I’ve had my eye on reading for quite a few years now; as each New Year when #TopTenTuesday is hosting one of these lovelies, I’ve wanted to dive into the topic and settle my thoughts on a selection of stories I would most desire to read or would be planning to read in the timeline of the topic’s originating post.

This year is quite special as I came to find out about several #newbooks by already beloved authors which are coming out in early 2020. Some are #newtomeauthors carried forward from [2019] and others are #newtomeauthors arriving in my bookish life in [2020!]; uniquely enough! (big smiles) Several are past, present & forthcoming featured guests on @SatBookChat (the Romance & Women’s Fiction chat I host on Saturdays semi-weekly – at least twice monthly) – whilst one release in particular is a celebration of one author’s adventurous journey in Japan whilst healing and recovering from Cancer.

Each of these stories attracted my eyes for different reasons – which I’ll be happily discussing and revealling throughout the post. Kindly let me know in the comments if I’ve struck your own keen eye of interest and if perhaps we share any mutual #mustreads for 2020 in common OR have any authors we share in our readerly lives we’ve previously discovered!?

I’ll be re-routing through the original post for #TopTenTuesday when this topic originated whilst including it on this week’s linky for everyone to seek out to find.

Let’s all have a rockin’ blast this first half of 2020!

Stay bookishly curious

& may your readerly adventures be as blissful as my own!

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DUE NOTE: all the authors and books on this list are a combination of the stories I have the pleasure of meeting as a book blogger (ie. blog tours, publicists, publishers or direct from authors themselves) with the exception of Kate Elliott, of whom I discovered as a seventeen year old who joined the Science Fiction Book Club (it was mail-order book catalogue club) and found “King’s Dragon” (Book One of the Crown of Stars Saga). Two of these authors are #newtomeauthors – both of whom are upcoming guests during @SatBookChat – Jenni Fletcher and Emma S. Jackson.

Each of the books represented here are stories I hand-picked to be of interest to my own readerly wanderings this first half of 2020 – the press materials featured were given to me to use on this post to celebrate the stories themselve with full permission of the authors who wrote the stories.

In regards to my personal connections to these authors, I have maintained contact with Kate Elliott off/on via Twitter whilst keeping my eyes on her current series and releases; inasmuch as the fact that I had the pleasure of getting to know certain ChocLit authors as we communicated and shared our bookish and writerly lives through my chat (@SatBookChat) – Christina Courtenay, Clare Chase and Janet Gover. With Ms Kaine, I have tried to keep in the loop with her releases but I haven’t had the chance to interact with her as much as the other writers I’ve mentioned.

Susan Spann and Jennifer Silverwood I’ve considered friends over the years where their path and mine have continued to cross. I originally met Ms Spann in @LitChat before reading the very first Shinobi Mystery which was “Claws of the Cat”. Silverwood and I have the same literary wanderings and interests as fellow readers and writers which is why we forged a friendship due to so many mutual interests we have shared. Ms Bacarr and I remained in contact between my first meeting with her during #HistFicChat and after I had read her novel “Christmas Once Again” – happily having her as a featured guest on @SatBookChat this past November, 2019.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with these authors through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I host #SatBookChat and having previously read their stories. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to when I am discussing their stories outside of featuring a review.

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The Lawson Sisters by Janet Gover

The Lawson Sisters by Janet Gover
20th January, 2020 (Digital First Release)

A heartfelt and compelling story of family, secrets and second chances, set in the heart of the beautiful Hunter Valley of NSW, from an award-winning voice in Australian fiction.

Family, fortune and holding on to what counts…

For many years Elizabeth Lawson has battled single-handedly to run the family’s historic horse stud in memory of her beloved father. But a devastating loss puts her dreams at risk. With no options left, Liz is forced to turn to her estranged sister Kayla for help.

Kayla has built a new life in the city as a wedding planner, far removed from the stable yard sweat and dust of her rural upbringing. She never thought she’d go back. But when Liz calls out of the blue, Kayla forms a plan that could save their childhood home.

Kayla’s return forces Liz to confront her past … and her future, in the shape of Mitch, her first and only love, who still watches over her from the other side of the creek.

But Liz still hides a terrible secret. When Kayla learns the truth, will the Lawson sisters find common ground or will their conflict splinter the family once again?

I am eagerly awaiting the print release!

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Posted Tuesday, 28 January, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Top Ten Tuesday

#SatBookChat Spotlight | featured guest H.L. Burke returns to #JLASblog in this featured introduction of her #Fantasy worlds & is discussing them during #SatBookChat!

Posted Saturday, 25 January, 2020 by jorielov , , , , , , , 0 Comments

#SatBookChat 25 January 2020 banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Remember last year during #WyrdAndWonder, I read this delishly spunky Fantasy Romance I truly felt entertained by & lovingly had a wicked sweet time reviewing? The title of this beaut of a novel was “To Court A Queen” and it hit every mark I could have hoped for in a Fantasy Romance novel! I was dearly impressed, awestruck by the world-building and rounded out my review layering in all the lovelies we, who read Fantasy, love finding in our fantastical worlds! It was full of intrigue, a slow burn romance and the kind of cheeky humour which leaves me in stitches!!

You might have already recognised through my bookish showcases & reviews for the first two years of #WyrdAndWonder – I’m quite the discerningly particular reader of Fantasy Fiction! I *love!* certain kinds of world-building and there is a definitive style of Fantasy narrative I am seeking that I do not always find available when I go hunting for a new author | series | story to read. Hence why discovering Ms Burke through #ReviewPit was such a cornerstone of joy during #WyrdAndWonder! She truly has honed in on what we want to seek out, what Fantasy readers can appreciate about spinning a world out of our hopeful imaginations & give us a wicked good read in the process!

To Court A Queen by H.L. Burke

A Fairy Tale Romance

He doesn’t want to get married, but he wants to be a frog even less.

Knight errant, Devin, takes a shortcut through the woods, only to be captured by fairy forces. The fairy queen has run out of breathing males to fight for her hand, and Devin, while not ideal fairy stock, is breathing–for now.

Telling a vain fairy queen you’d rather not be her one true love is a ticket to life on a lilypad, so the knight agrees to face three challenges to win Queen Agalea’s hand. When a clever servant girl offers to help him navigate the trials in order to stop the constant bloodshed of the courtship ritual, Devin jumps at the chance. However, as he balances “flirting” with his “beloved” and overcoming tasks specifically designed to kill him, he finds his heart drawn to his new partner in survival.

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This novel & author were also a part of

my Top Favourite #NewToMeAuthors of 2019!

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If you’ve missed my previous ruminations about “To Court A Queen” let me share this ahead of #SatBookChat this Saturday morning:

I truly found this #IndieAuthor to be #unputdownable because Burke understands what I personally *love!* to seek out of a Fantasy Romance! Not just that – it is how she layered you into the world-building, gave you two characters who despite being individually quirky worked well together as a team – whilst having this set in an unsuspecting place which was wondrously created by Burke’s eye for fantastical detail.

I will be looking forward to collecting more of her stories & taking new journeys into where her imagination leads me to follow!

In regards to the world being built within this world of the fey:

Uniquely, there is a running shortage of approachable and available men who are willing to do the Queen’s bidding – by taking a stake of claim towards her consort position and find a way not to get killed in the process! Whilst she’s holding court, you can see the different kinds of fey who are represented – by their style of dress, their hair colour and the ways in which they dress, braid their hair and otherwise present themselves.

Winged hounds were a new creature for me to experience! I love when that happens – as it is such a special treat to come across a new fantastical species or creature you haven’t yet had the joy in becoming acquainted previously!

The background texture of the story is lush and vibrant; from the way the rooms are outfitted to the design of the aesthetic for the Queen’s residence hall(s). There is a lot of attention to the finer details here and I loved tucking close to the descriptive details.

on the fantastical musings of speculative novelist h.l. burke:

In the author’s own words she’s declared the following about “To Court A Queen”: Enjoy a Fairy Tale Romance that’s like “The Princess Bride” combined with “Ella Enchanted” plus a LOT of snark, a cat-elf, & a knight who is way too Han Solo for his own good!

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And, here are my thoughts about how to best describe her fantastically humourous writing style which brokers on the edge of satire and envelopes itself into a bit of snark round the edges!

One of the descriptive attributes Burke wrote into her story is where Devin compares himself to a moth to the distaste of the Queen as she sees his humanness to be a detriment but not to the extent she will remove him from her Court or from testing him as potential consort to her throne! There are a lot of tongue-in-check exchanges with a pulse of satire threading through the dialogue – something I was looking forward to each step of the way because Burke’s characters have a light-heartedness about them. They believe strongly in their lives and the causes they wish to champion but at the same time there is a threading of nonchalance and full-on sarcasm which isn’t lost on me.

I had a feeling the comedic timing to the discussions is partially to cover over the fact the Queen has a decidedly different end game for those who fail her miserably! I know the evil side of the fey as you don’t have to look too hard to uncover that side of their nature – whilst there are a few who walk in the Light, most of the fey side with the Dark. Even if it is under the benign covering of seeking a mate who’d be in equal status of the Queen, you had to think there was something quite nefarious happening at the same time. Why would a Queen simply agree to ‘any odd male’? That you had to wonder about the most whilst you continued to watch Devin grow deeper into this quagmire he caused for himself!

I even liked how she created this species of elves (ie. thus known as ‘cat-elves’ by Devin who likes to get a rile of ire out of them!) who are less than gracious about being referred to as ‘cat-elves’ as I suppose from their perspective that might not be a very endearing name to be called? It was still clever though because it added another layer to this world wherein she’s built a whole society of fey and fairy – where Sevaine represents another part of this kingdom and where the Queen represents the other half. Uniquely there are also loop holes of how those who are ingenious enough can outwit the Queen – though, I had suspected that might be a false-safety on their part as after awhile wouldn’t she wise up to their plottings?

Want to know something keenly ironic? I didn’t really feel this was a snarky story! In fact, I saw it more laden with satire and wicked brilliant humour than I did the snark? There are just some Speculative Fiction novelists out there who are writing stories which work well with my own sense of humour apparently – I now consider H.L. Burke, Leanne Leeds (from #ReviewPit alum) joining the ranks of Ms Chris (E. Chris Garrison), AshleyRose Sullivan, RJ Sullivan and Jennifer Silverwood in my admiration society for comedic and dramatic Fantasy which happily makes me blissfully happy to reside inside!

-a quote from my review of To Court A Queen

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As I was setting up the conversation for #SatBookChat today, I wanted to give a well-rounded introduction to the collective worlds & storycrafting style of Ms Burke similar in vein to how I encaptured the stories & series of Vivian Conroy during her initial chat with @SatBookChat!

Ms Burke doesn’t limit herself to Fantasy Romance – she likes to carve out a niche of Fantasy which does strike a romantic balance within her story-lines but overall, she’s a multi-focused Fantasy novelist who is crafting worlds of wonderment which also parlay into such niches of focus to treat your readerly delights like flavourings of Steampunk, Historical Theatre Sci-Fantasy, Sorcery & Magic and of course, short stories which spark your curiosity to seek out her larger works! There is a bit of fey and a dash of whimsical – you only have to visit her website & blog to seek out the ‘right read’ for your Speculative heart to enjoy discovering!

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I hope you’ve brewed a cuppa to enjoy the information on this spotlighted post in conjunction with @SatBookChat whilst taking time to visit our past chats archived via the Moments on the chat’s feeds via Twitter. This chat will be archived after it concludes and a bit lateron from there to allow everyone the chance to interact, share and respond.

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Without further adieu,
I give you the latest #SatBookChat spotlight
wherein you can learn a bit more about the author & her story.

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Magician's Rivalry by H.L. Burke

Cross-released across ALL platforms: print, ebook & audio!

The synopsis for the Spellsmith & Carver series:

Academy trained Auric Spellsmith and small town apprentice Jericho Carver couldn’t be more different, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting the same thing.

When Auric left his rural home and his father’s magic shop to study with the great magicians of the republic, he never expected to be replaced, let alone by the barely educated nephew of the local carpenter. Returning home to find his rightful inheritance in jeopardy—and his beloved baby sister flirting with his new rival—Auric knows he has to prove to his father that he’s the better magician—and the better man.

Jericho scratched his way out of poverty and abuse, and he’s not going to let some bookish city boy send him running back to his boards and hammers. With his future, and his ability to court the woman of his dreams, at stake, he’s ready to play dirty … or at least sit back and let the impulsive and temperamental Auric set himself on fire trying to do basic magic Jericho could do with his eyes closed.

Their rivalry might burn Spellsmith Manor down around them … or it might prove the key to unlocking a long held family secret and saving a world that doesn’t even realize it’s in danger.

A three book gaslamp fantasy series with friendship, humor, and adventure, Spellsmith & Carver takes the Buddy Comedy to magical new heights.This collection includes all three books of the series plus two additional short stories.

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Posted Saturday, 25 January, 2020 by jorielov in #SatBookChat, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

Book Spotlight | Featuring an Extract with Notes by Jorie on behalf of “The Matchmaker’s Rogue” (Book One: Grace-by-the-Sea) by Regina Scott

Posted Monday, 20 January, 2020 by jorielov , , 2 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

In [2017] I hosted a similar spotlight & feature for this author – ever since I was first clued into her Love Inspired Historical writings, I’ve been keeping a ready eye out for her novels. I have also started to gather the stories I can find published through LI: Historical ever since the imprint was discontinued. They are starting to repack the stories into dual author or triple author releases now and sadly, I haven’t had the chance to gather those as I thought it was nice to see those coming out for those of us who enjoyed the imprint & were sad to see it go by the wayside.

Fast forward to [2020] and I am proud to host my second spotlighted post for this lovely author & share an extract from the story which is being featured on a January blog tour for PRISM. I personally *adore!* the Regency – an era I have become to know rather well and an era of time where I feel cosy comfortable to keep disappearing inside! I truly get caught up in all the drama of the ton and all the craziness set round matchmakers & those who are hoping for a true match rather than one attached to gaining property, wealth and status (or all three!). It was an era of balls, catty rivarly and beautiful fashion whilst at the same time it had a very conservative spin on society & the expectations of family, friends & peers. And, yet, despite that conservative edge to the Regency – I still find myself able to carve out certain niches of romantic joy i the writers who keep writing the Regency in ways I love to read about it!

When I first read the premise of “The Matchmaker’s Rogue” and saw the cover art which accompanied it – boy! did I feel like swooning into a wicked good read! I had wished this might have been available to review for the tour as it looks dearly #unputdownable! I’ve queued the book to be requested at my local library as they’ve been blessedly receptive this past year to my purchase requests and I am hoping this one might become added to their card catalogue in February! I’ll have to keep everyone posted in case it becomes one of my next #libraryreads!

For now – brew yourself a cuppa of your favourite tea & enjoy getting to know a bit more about this story & the latest release by Ms Scott! I am truly hoping by year’s end, I can finally say I’ve read a handful of her Love Inspired Historicals & The Matchmaker’s Rogue! As this New Year’s 2020 for me is about seeking out the authors I’ve previously featured and finally getting the chance to have their stories alight in my hands to be read!

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The Matchmaker's Rogue by Regina Scott

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Converse via: #MatchRogue, #GraceByTheSeaSeries and #Regency
as well as #HistRom or #HistoricalRomance

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add to LibraryThing

Published: 8th January, 2020 | ISBN: 978-1657611467

Grace-by-the-Sea: Where romance and adventure come home.

Polished Jesslyn Chance has one of the most enviable positions in the little Regency coastal village of Grace-by-the-Sea. She is the hostess of the spa, arranging introductions and entertainments and playing matchmaker to the ladies and gentlemen who come to take the waters, promenade through the shops, and dance at the assembly. But when a rogue returns from her past, Jess finds herself suddenly at sea.

Always an adventurer, Larkin Denby left Grace-by-the-Sea to right the wrongful death of his father. Now he’s back on a mission: to identify the mysterious Lord of the Smugglers who allegedly sails from Grace Cove and takes England’s secrets to France. But Grace-by-the-Sea is the perfect little spa town, run by the still oh-so-perfect Jesslyn Chance. When the village’s future is threatened, Jess must work with Lark to solve the mystery and protect the town’s own. In doing so, the matchmaker of Grace-by-the-Sea may just find that the best match for her is the rogue who stole her heart years ago.

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Posted Monday, 20 January, 2020 by jorielov in #blogmas, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Prism Book Tours, Sweet Romance

#SatBookChat Spotlight | featured guest Viv Royce discusses her Little Shops on Heart Street series during #SatBookChat!

Posted Saturday, 18 January, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

#SatBookChat 18 January 2020 banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might have missed my #blogmas book review for the first novel in this series “A Family by Christmas” – wherein, two of my #ChristmasReads and library purchase requests were thankfully able to arrive in time for me to read ahead of Christmas week! Both this novel by Ms Royce and “Christmas Once Again” were the top favourites of my #blogmas reviews as I was able to settle into a few Christmassy stories despite being taken ill by a Winter cold!

You might recognise our featured guest today as she is the host of her lovely chat #HistFicChat wherein all of us who love to chatter about Historical Fiction come together to share and discuss the stories which are intriguing to us all within the scope of the historical past! You can see why I took to that chat like a duck to water – I practically time jump round History every month of every year – so it is true delight to get to engage with those authors & remain in the know about which new books are currently getting published which might tempt me to add to my #nextreads list!

On my connection to Vivian Conroy:

I am quite active on the socially bookish side of the twitterverse (ie. #bookishTwitter); a lot of the writers and readers I enjoy conversing with on a yearly basis were first ‘met’ somewhere in a chat or a serendipitously lovely convo – either organised through a Twitter chat or a randomly engaged convo between them and I. I do not recollect how I first came to find Vivian Conroy or if in fact, she originally found me – I do know I immediately took to liking her Historical Fiction focused Twitter chat: #HistFicChat. Similar to my passion for #HistoricalFix (hosted and founded by Erin Lindsay McCabe – of which, due to her return to writing has been on sabbatical for three years) – this is a chat where Historical readers and writers can happily find each other, interact and chatter their bookish hearts out about the historic past whilst discovering new #mustreads!

I had the chance to review two of her novels: “In Peppermint Peril” and “The Butterfly Conspiracy” whilst I also had the opportunity to have her as guest author via my chat @SatBookChat. Ahead of the New Year, I also received good news my purchase request for her first Romance novel was accepted by my local library (“A Family by Christmas”) which I enjoyed reading and asked them to purchase the sequel “A Valentine’s Proposal” which I spotlighted ahead of her second guest appearance on @SatBookChat!

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with her through Twitter and have reviewed her novels; as I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time. And this extends into sharing my honest impressions, thoughts and views whenever I am hosting a guest feature or a promotional post on their behalf.

She was also one of our featured guests last year – you can read the transcript of our previous #SatBookChat (Part One & Part Two) wherein we happily were focusing on her Cosy Historical Mystery series: Merriweather and Royston wherein I read the first novel whilst we touched a bit on all her other series in-progress and of which were coming up to be published next. It was quite a well-rounded #SatBookChat!

If you’ve missed my previous ruminations about this series let me share this ahead of #SatBookChat this Saturday morning:

The Contemporary style is similar to what you’d find inside In Peppermint Peril as Royce loves using small towne life as an anchour to her character’s life – which of course, makes me especially happy as I love the ambiance of small towne culture and the aspects of how the community itself plays an important role in the life of a character. In this instance, she’s given us three newer residents (Casey and her father Grant as well as Emma herself) who are attempting to find their way in both the towne and in their lives.

Royce allows you to see the emotional anguish in Grant – of how the toll of losing his wife is affecting him not just on a personal level of dealing with the grief of her loss but how he’s having issues parenting Casey. Even the small joys of story-telling at night is a tricky operation for him and during the daytime he finds himself less anxious and less liable to give into his war of memories which is slowly eating him from the inside out. You can understand his struggles – the difficulty of resolving the loss and the transitions into being as single father without his wife by his side. Royce gives you this time in his life full justice without sugar coating it and honestly depicting the harder moments of a father struggling to resolve his heart as he recognises that he’s changed since his wife died.

Royce has a knack for writing Contemporary Romantic drama – for giving her characters the space and time they need to work through their own internal battles and to give a reader a chance to see peek into a community they would be grateful to call their own. This is definitely one story I am glad I heard about on Twitter and am dearly wicked thankful I could read as it is another reason why I am enjoying my discovery of Entangled Publishing as a new place to find the Romance novels I must enjoy reading!!

-a quote from my review of A Family by Christmas

I had mentioned on my review I would be seeking out this series continiously through my local library and I have wonderful news to share today! They accepted my purchase request for the sequel “A Valentine Proposal” and I am hoping it shall come into the library’s system in time for me to borrow it ahead of St. Valentine’s Day! Wouldn’t that be grand?!

Technically speaking – I’ve had a very good New Year’s via the library – they accepted 5 of 5 requests and I couldn’t be happier – not just for myself but for the other patrons who will be able to ‘meet’ these books after I’ve met them myself. I love encouraging new purchases for this reason – they do not just help us with ouer readerly pursuits, they help introduce others to stories & authors they might not have found without our requests to bring them into the library.

You’ll note throughout my Story Vault are mentions of Sweet Romances which are either mainstream releases like this one or INSPY releases – I happen to love the gentler side of Romance as much as I love curling into an INSPY Romantic Suspense novel – sometimes it is just lovely to tuck into a sweeter side of the genre where you feel like you’ve stepped through a Hallmark Channel Romance movie!

As a hybrid reader of mainstream & INSPY Fiction – I happily take a walkabout through both literary destinations frequently and happily love sharing the joy of the authors who are writing the stories I am enjoying to read. They give you a happy burst of happiness to find and their stories are blessedly heartwarming to read.

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I hope you’ve brewed a cuppa to enjoy the information on this spotlighted post in conjunction with @SatBookChat whilst taking time to visit our past chats archived via the Moments on the chat’s feeds via Twitter. This chat will be archived after it concludes and a bit lateron from there to allow everyone the chance to interact, share and respond.

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Without further adieu,
I give you the latest #SatBookChat spotlight
wherein you can learn a bit more about the author & her story.

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A Valentine Proposal by Viv Royce

The 2nd novel released 13th January, 2020!

The Synopsis for A Valentine Proposal:

Just as free-spirited bookstore employee Cleo Davis faces closure of her beloved shop, the owner informs her it will continue as part of the successful Stephens chain. When the chain’s risk assessor, the very reserved, very attractive Mark Stephens, enters the store to look over her business plan, Cleo clashes with him right away. Oil and water have nothing on them.

Mark has always followed the rules. But the minute he steps into vibrant and spunky Cleo’s store, he knows he’s in trouble. One moment he’s in her “craft corner” painting bookends with kids, the next in a bidding war with Cleo at a charity auction. He can’t deny that opposites attract, and Cleo’s vivacious personality has him rethinking his life in more ways than one.

But when Cleo’s store officially becomes part of the bookstore chain, Mark will become her boss…and completely off limits.

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Posted Saturday, 18 January, 2020 by jorielov in #SatBookChat, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

A Jane Austen Conversation | featuring Collins Hemingway in discussion about his Marriage of Miss Jane Austen series

Posted Wednesday, 15 January, 2020 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

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Hallo, Hallo dear hearts,

I am not entirely sure if everyone who reads my blog is aware of my admiration for Jane Austen or the fact, I consider myself a #Janeite. I have loved the author’s style of narrative for many years, in fact, I wrote an Essay about it during 2017’s #AustenInAugust and couldn’t help but gush over the reading of the first novel in this trilogy as well.

What implored me truly to read this after canon selection on a theory of Jane Austen’s life is my affection for the author herself. I love reading after canon works based on her collective works but I also like to entertain readings of stories which relate directly to the writer, herself. Previously, I have explored this through the Jane Austen Mysteries a series I look forward to re-visiting, as I hadn’t had the time to re-read the first novel nor continue with the rest of the stories which followed suit. This was initially my goal whilst reading the first volume in this series – however, in the past few years, my readings of Austen Literature has taken a few interesting hiatuses.

Whilst noting this is a novel of an evolving theory based on what ‘could have been’ in accord to Ms Austen’s life, I felt it warranted exploring because after all, how much do any of us know about the Classical authors we love to read? In this, I had a curious thought – what if this novel had a foundation of grounding based on one of the author’s own works? This is something which came into better clarity as I read the novel directly and one in which, I had wondered if other readers on the blog tours had noted themselves.

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Directly though – I was dearly curious to continue reading this series due to these
ruminative thoughts I had shared after finishing Volume Two:

As I re-entered Jane’s life as a married woman, I was happy to find Cassandra was beside her, news of the Napoleonic War held good news for her family (especially in regards to her brother) whilst her new life was still one she was settling into accepting. Ashton provided a step-up in social standing for Jane, including how they lived and what they had within their environs. You can see her a bit uncertain how to handle the luxuries of this life compared to what she was used to previously with the Austens, who lived a humbled existence.

Jane is the newly minted Mrs Dennis in the household – a duty and station which comes with a litany of obligation, responsibility and a foresight of understanding for social trademarks for a hostess. It is here where we first start to notice how Jane’s own upbringing fell short of what she would have to endure as a married woman. How her mother-in-law wouldn’t hesitate to point out her faults and where her sister Cassandra would provide a moral anchour to her nerves. It is here we find Jane attempting to do the biding of her husband but without the fuller knowledge of what a disaster it could become if she would blindly follow his advice without taking into consideration the suggestions of his mother, the other ‘Mrs Dennis’.

It is interesting to see how Jane would approach married life – how she is open to discussing things with Ashton or of finding ways to engage him in the romantic gestures she endeavours to instigate. Nothing is seen as this was inspired by Jane Austen and thus, Hemingway happily kept her style of narrative intact without deviating out of the tastefulness of a romance which made her infamous for the genre; yet what was interesting is how he gave a bit of freedom of expression to both Jane and Ashton. They were happily enjoying their married lives – all facets of it but most importantly the ways in which they were endearing each other in their more intimate moments.

There is a bit of cheeky humour threading into the backbone of this installment – how Jane is reflectively musing about how she’s surprised at how natural being a married woman has come to her and how she enjoys being with her husband. There are other sides to Jane as well, such as the woman who is not yet ready to lead a household but of whom, is attempting to remain outside her comfort zone if it means improving her connection to her husband, her staff and her mother-in-law. This is a story of growth – of seeing Jane move away from her years of youth and of embracing this new chapter where she is writing the hours as they arrive.

As Jane started to see how marriage loomed ahead of her, her one regret truly was the lack of hours in which to be creatively engaged with her pen. She spoke of this to Ashton, of whom did not see why she was upset (not really, though he attempted to try) as she had chosen to be with him, to be a wife and to have responsibilities that would naturally come out of the union. Quite a typical response, except that it fell short of realising from a husband’s perspective, how sometimes a woman in a marriage was not realising they were sacrificing a part of themselves for the sake of being with the man they loved. I think in this instance, Jane had become caught inside the romance and hadn’t fully thought about how her life might become altered if she followed course.

A lot of truth in those worries of Jane as I readily observe how not all husbands are supportive of their wives (especially if their writers) and how it would appear that women are still even now needing to defend why they write or why they want to be economically engaged outside of their marriage. This was a moment of reckoning for Jane, as it wasn’t just putting aside her desires to write which plagued her conscience but certain aspects of marriage itself; which also acted as a conflict with how she was raised and the more sheltering views of being a clergy’s daughter.

Similarly, Hemingway was not shy to highlight the other tensions in their marriage – such as the blunderment Ashton made in deference to Jane in private conversation. It shows how he was effectively examining their marriage from an outside vantage point which had the pleasure of seeing the more intimate moments of their private hours. In thus, he pulled back the layers of what was shielding them from the outside world – drawing them out, letting them reveal their raw emotional thoughts and to speak plainly how they felt about not just one another but the topical issues of their era. They were together for most things but they struck a chord apart on deeper issues I think bemused both of them to notice they truly were two passionate souls who each had their own individual mind. To which end, there were some aspects of their disagreements which were worth owning and there were others worth realising they would never agree on the finer points which separated them.

They do remain united in their ability to draw back together after their differences are shed – for they have a strong marriage built out of trust and truthfulness. It is through their discussions they realise certain aspects of their business and their personal lives are coming to a head of discourse. They cannot continue to engage in partnerships which go against their own minds and hearts which reflect the current events – from slavery to the promise of war, they are keeping on the fringes of what is reflective in the papers. This causes disruptions for them naturally but at the heart of their marriage is a union sparked out of love and united in a fond respect for each other, the world at large and the auspicious emblems of living a life with ethical morals.

As we peer more into Jane and Ashton’s world as a married couple, we start to see how difficult it is for both of them – how they must learn to yield to one another and draw a closer circle of strength to tackle what is awaiting them. There is a joyful revelation in this installment – one that further enlarges our scope of understanding for how Jane is fully lit alive by her experiences as a wife and how by embracing these subtle changes she is finding herself radically new and altered. Jane is happily introspective throughout the story – owning to her pursuit to understand herself and her environment but also, to acknowledge how each new year of a life lived is a chance to see the milestones of the experiences you’ve gained.

This particular installment ends on a happy note but one which is guarded for the future – for not everything is certain and there are a few key reasons for Ashton and Jane to feel as if the future yet to come might prove to be far more taxing than the hours that they have just passed through. It is a keenly intriguing series and one I hope more Janeites discover as it truly is a unique testimony about how a modern writer can re-tap into the life of Jane and bring her out so wholly original and true of her person to give us a near-living testimony of how she would have lived had she taken the paths and passageways he’s explored in this trilogy.

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It is hard to put into words how much this trilogy has taken up a cosy niche of joy in my heart – as I first started reading this beautiful sequence of Jane Austen’s life in January 2018. The past two years has given me a lot of heartfelt joy to reconnect to Austen in a plausible and believable way of re-introducing myself into her world and the ways in which this sequence of her life could have been lived. I have felt from the start, Hemingway himself was channelling a special entreaty into her life and world – the ways in which he instinctively knew how to write about her innermost thoughts, the way he tucked in letters and correspondences into the trilogy and how he captured the heart of the Regency as an era and background to the story itself.

His capacity to tell this story has been a heartwarming experience for me and I am truly thankful I could close out 2019 with reading the finale installment which brings our experiences with Jane in this beautiful trilogy to a close.

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A Jane Austen Conversation | featuring Collins Hemingway in discussion about his Marriage of Miss Jane Austen seriesThe Mariage of Miss Jane Austen
Subtitle: Volume Three
by Collins Hemingway

The Stunning Finale to Jane Austen’s Saga

In the moving conclusion to “The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen,” Jane and her husband struggle with the serious illness of their son, confront a bitter relationship with the aristocratic family who were once their friends and face the horrific prospect of war when the British Army falters on the continent. The momentous events of the Napoleonic wars and the agonizing trials of their personal lives take Jane and Ashton to a decision that will decide their fate—and her future—once and for all.

Genres: After Canons, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Re-telling &/or Sequel



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781979472760

Also by this author: The Mariage of Miss Jane Austen : Volume One, The Mariage of Miss Jane Austen : Volume Two, The Mariage of Miss Jane Austen

on 4th November, 2017

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen trilogy:

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen by Collins HemingwayThe Marriage of Miss Jane Austen Vol II by Collins HemingwayThe Marriage of Miss Jane Austen Volume 3 by Collins Hemingway

Converse via: #HistFic, #HistoricalFiction, #HistRom + #JaneAusten

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Posted Wednesday, 15 January, 2020 by jorielov in #SaturdaysAreBookish, 19th Century, After the Canon, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Christianity, Family Drama, Family Life, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Inspired By Author OR Book, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Pride & Prejudice Re-telling, Second Chance Love, Siblings, Sisters & the Bond Between Them, the Regency era, Women's Fiction, World Religions