Jorie Loves A Story, is a blog that was inspired into creation due to a reader’s love and passion for the written word. She reads bookish industry newsfeeds, keeps a pertinent eye on newly published authors, is readily eager to book travel to independent book shoppes, athenaeum libraries, historical landmarks of literary interest, and book festivals, conventions, or symposiums; absorbs herself into the written word, cherishing each book she comes across that has the ability to transport herself into another time, place, and world. This is her journey, as she uncovers one book at a time that leaves her musefully happy for the discovery.

Read my Introduction Post, to see where I am hoping to take Jorie Loves A Story. To help celebrate the launch of my blog, read my Launch Day post! Read how the Story of Jorie Loves A Story was knit together!

Visit my Guest Features, Interviews & Podcast Archive and learn about my style of betareading (*as of 2018/20 I’ve taken a sabbatical). Curious about my approach to reviewing books? Read my thoughts! *Hint!* it’s hugged into my reaction of my first Gaiman essay! To gain perspective about how my readerly life changed a bit after my father’s stroke, kindly read #StoriesOfJorie – specifically November 2016 + January 2017.

In February, 2020 I became a promotional influencer and reviewer for LibroFM ALC. I announced my participation in the LibroFM ALC programme via #TheSundayPost.

Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story

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

Posted Saturday, 18 January, 2020 by jorielov A Valentine Proposal, Entangled Publishing, Little Shops on Heart Street series, Viv Royce 0 Comments

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.

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.

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

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.

My immediate thoughts after finishing the first novel of the series:

I was quite happy to see Cleo’s story is the next installment for the series because of the way the bookshoppe became introduced through Emma’s story-line. Cleo was the first person who befriended Emma, showing her how kind and openly accepting this community is to outsiders who want to carve out a new life for themselves in a towne which is receptive to independent businesses and those of whom want to create a ‘found family’ atmosphere when they have already lost their biological families.

Cleo’s journey with the bookshoppe started in-line with Emma’s struggle to make connections within the community herself and as you see the two lives merging through their respective challenges in business, you also began to contemplate how Cleo’s life might pan out, too! This is why it is a lovely surprise finding Cleo is the next community member to have her life highlighted in the series!! Love it when that happens!!

What do you think?

Do you love reading Sweet Romances as much as I do?

What are you hoping to find in gentler Romance Reads?

Which authors do you love within this scope of Romance – from mainstream to INSPY? And, what is your favourite part of the readerly experience?

Be sure to give yourself a treat & start this series at the beginning,…

Chocolatier Emma Miller has a new business selling bonbons to the residents of the quaint town of Wood Creek. When a tiny visitor stops by her shop with an interesting request. Emma is intrigued. The young girl needs chocolates that will help her widowed dad fall in love, preferably with her teacher. What Emma didn’t count on was Casey’s ever so charming and handsome dad, Grant, stepping into her life. She has to remind herself to be cautious because the one thing she learned in foster care is that people always leave.

Pilot Grant Galloway is touched by his daughter’s gift and is curious about the person who made the world-class chocolates. But when he steps into Emma’s shop full of delicious smells and tasty morsels, he forgets to breathe. And it has nothing to do with the his favourite desert. She’s pretty and kind, and when she has to deal with a difficult client, his protective instincts kick into high gear. But he risked his heart once. When his wife died, it left him broken. He’s just now beginning to pick up the pieces, and he and his daughter will be leaving town once the holidays are over.

Thanks to some Christmas wishes, though, these two might discover that their carefully laid plans are about to change.

I hope as you enter into this series for the first time or revisit the series if you’ve already found it to your liking – that you’ll gleam a few new tidbits & insights through the convo we’ve shared during #SatBookChat today. It is a wonderful opportunity to chat with authors & to ask them questions about their writing process, their style of storycrafting and the elements of what makes their stories their own.

If you weren’t able to join us today – I look foward to seeing you join us on a future Saturday. Kindly note – you are welcome to read through our #SatBookChat feeds, adding new responses to the chat’s topic & the conversation at hand – be sure to remember to add our tag (#SatBookChat) to your tweets so they will *thread into the convo and everyone who seeks the convo out can find your additions.

This Viv Royce Spotlight is connected with the chat I hosted via @satbookchat featuring this lovely author on 18th January, 2020!

The press Materials are courtesy the author.

About Viv Royce

A Family by Christmas promo banner provided by the author Viv Royce and is used with permission.

With the same trademark atmospheric settings, relatable characters and cute canines that made several of her cozy mysteries #1 Amazon US and Canada bestsellers in multiple categories, Vivian Conroy pens romance as Viv Royce, creating heartthrob heroes ranging from rugged pilots to royals reluctant to believe in true love who meet their match in that girl next door or the co-worker with the business ideas exactly opposing their own – happy endings guaranteed! When not frequenting fictional worlds, Viv loves to hike (especially in the mountains), craft with paper, felt and clay, and hunt for the perfect cheesecake. Quite active on Twitter, she's the founder of #HistFicChat, a live Twitter chat about historical fiction, featuring authors like Kate Quinn, Anna Lee Huber and Susan Spann, and would love for readers to follow her and connect via @VivWrites.

Twitter | Goodreads | LibraryThing | FantasticFiction

View the archived chat via Moments

(will update link after #SatBookChat!)

This marks our second #SatBookChat for 2020!

#SatBookChat Guest Authors badge for 2020 created by Jorie in Canva.

Set your calendar & join us this 2020 to chat with our featured guests!

Next Saturday, we are chatting with H.L. Burke @hlburkewriter!

NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.

{SOURCES: Book covers for “A Family by Christmas”, “A Valentine Proposal”, synopsis for the novels as well as the author biography and promo banner were all provided by the author Viv Royce (aka Vivian Conroy) and are used with permission. Post dividers 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: #SatBookChat Viv Royce banner and the Comment Box Banner.}

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

.@SatBookChat | ?️#SatBookChat NEWS!

We have a booked Winter this New Year 2020!
Happily ANNOUNCING our January Authors☺️

Visit & Follow our featured guests:@Difreeman001 + @VivWrites + @hlburkewriter

Reviews of their stories via #JLASblog
Chat Info: https://t.co/teHQOApezN pic.twitter.com/q2FxqIjssi

— #SatBookChat (@SatBookChat) January 4, 2020

.@SatBookChat?NEW #SatBookChat

Welcoming @VivWrites back to our lovely chat – her first #Romance series by @entangledpub has a #SweetRomance NEW release & celebrates #ValentinesDay!?

?Join us SAT 18JAN 11aNYC | 4pUK

?Read my #bookreview of Bk1: https://t.co/aaalu2Q2a9 pic.twitter.com/HavVWttWgv

— #SatBookChat (@SatBookChat) January 15, 2020

.@joriestory?NEW #SatBookChat

Before the chat begins today (11a NYC | 4p UK) drop by my blog and enjoy this #bookspotlight about the lovely #SweetRomance series @VivWrites will be discussing!

A #Valentine Proposal via @entangledpub

??https://t.co/kS4m0MvPVr pic.twitter.com/Pb19nS8Gjw

— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) January 18, 2020

.@SatBookChat?NEW #SatBookChat

Ahead of the chat today (11a NYC | 4p UK) visit my blog and this #bookspotlight about the lovely #SweetRomance series being featured today & discussed by the author @VivWrites!

A #Valentine Proposal via @entangledpub

??https://t.co/fdjLv5M4GJ pic.twitter.com/tZri5jzlf7

— #SatBookChat (@SatBookChat) January 18, 2020

Comments via Twitter:

This #SatBookChat is cozy mystery and sweet romance with the fabulous @VivWrites! https://t.co/VMO83ZUsy4

— Dianne Freeman (@Difreeman001) January 17, 2020

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)

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

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 »

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