Stories of Jorie | feat. #CrimeFictionBox | The story of how Jorie became an influencer for a second book subscription box!

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

If you’re following me on Twitter, you might have already noticed there is a bit of a changing of the guard so to speak happening with my Twitter Profile today! You might feel like you’ve read that declaration *already!* – and you would be correct! I previously made this same announcement when I announced I’m a new partner and influencer for the #OnceUponABookClubBox!

You might also remember during one of my recent #TheSundayPost – I made a small footnote notation about having some wicked #awesomesauce news to SHARE!? This would be it dear hearts! I had an unexpected opportunity arrive through a bit of serendipity recently *and!* today, on Friday, the 13th no less – I can share it!! Eek.

As previously stated I never had the chance to subscribe to a book subscription service – however, I do maintain a list of these lovelies on Twitter.  I came across Julie Valarie’s website whilst responding to past comments on Jorie Loves A Story wherein she referenced the Once Upon A Book Club, though at the time I hadn’t realised she was the featured author for the December 2019 box! This was how I stumbled across an invite to become an influencer & VIP Team member for the Once Upon A Book Club!

Now fast forward – March began on better footing than February ended because I was finally within the last week of a horrid cold I caught mid-month. It was the kind of cold where I couldn’t read nor listen to audiobooks (due to extremely sore ears!) and otherwise, was just hoping March would be a kind month without adding to my recent grievances with an early onset of Spring (pollen) allergies. *knock on wood* The pollen is being kept at bay and that works smashing for me!

A bit more background: We all know about #booktube & #bookstagram – whilst #bookishTwitter or #bookTwitter is slowly gaining more traction inasmuch as the tags #bookcommunity & #readingcommunity in conjunction with the already established #writingcommunity. I was grateful #CrimeFictionBox was open to having book bloggers & those of us who are bookishly chatty on Twitter to have a chance at promoting & honestly reviewing their book subscription boxes.

Similar to how I receive books in exchange for honest reviews from publishers, authors & publicists or early reviewer programs – I am going to receive a #CrimeFictionBox in exchange for my honest impressions and reactions. This is cleverly right up my street as I love taking #bookphotography and sharing the images on my blog & in the twitterverse. IF you’ve not visited with me in awhile, you might have missed my first #unboxing for Once Upon A Book Club OR my review of the February Adult Box’s selection “Remembrance” where I gave in-line reveals about the parcels and gifts which correlated directly to the context of the novel.

You might have taken stock of the fact I have more than a *slight addiction!* to reading #CosyCrime, dramatic Crime novels, police procedural novels (er, rather listening to them a la #TeamKayHunter!), Contemporary Suspense & Thriller as well as Historical Crime novels. I’ve been expanding on my selections over the years I’ve been book blogging and have truly honed in on what I love to read in today’s #CrimeFiction! Thus, when my path recently crossed with the Crime Fiction Subscription Box – I immediately reached out and started asking some pointed questions about the particulars of how their service works.

Mostly because I’m a discerning reader and until I emailed them my list of preferences about my likes and dislikes for this genre I’m passionate about exploring – I hadn’t quite realised, Jorie is a bit hard to select a book for all things considered! Except for Mum – she seems to have this telepathic connection and *knows!* instinctively what I’d love to read. She nails it each time she gifts me a book!

Let me break it down for you – as they are a relative new subscription box company and you might not know how it all works – as each of these services are slightly different from one another! I am including my own bulleted notes I emailed to #CrimeFictionBox to give you a bit of insight into the types of Crime Fiction I read myself as much as how detailed you can get with your own emails for your own preferences with this genre. I love seeing honest answers about reading preferences and I hope my answers help inspire your own if you choose to order a box.

→ If you’re like me and have concerns about *content!* inclusions you definitely want to take advantage of emailing them a list of your bookish turn-offs.

When it comes to Crime Fiction – I tend to be a ‘Cosy’ Crime girl moreso than a Hard-Boiled kind of girl. There are a few exceptions but overall the few bookish turn-offs for me are the following:

* explicit and gratuitous violence
* overtly excessive vulgarity (there can be some strong words, but not like f* sprinkled like stardust!)
* sexual scenes which should be limited to Erotica (don’t mind the heat, but gosh, there is a limit!)
* mistreatment of women/children or anything that is overtly dark in tone, style or voice
* there are plots involving human trafficking, child abuse, domestic violence, etc which personally I don’t read either

For me ‘hard-boiled’ refers to more depictions of the crime and has a higher level of intensity to be read however I know in theory my bookish turnoffs are more akin to what ‘hard-boiled’ traditionally involves and those are the reasons I try to step away from those kinds of stories as I just don’t enjoy them.

→ If you have a short-list or long-list of authors who are just an immediate DNF or simply not your cuppa. Don’t hesitate to be openly honest which the route I took!

Authors I avoid like the plague are:

* Stephen King
* James Patterson
* Michael Connelly
* others like them

The author I read as a reviewer who really took violence to a new level of intensity which made me physically ill is Bradley Harper. First for “A Knife in the Fog” (see review) and second for “Queen’s Gambit” (see my reaction) which I couldn’t even read.

→ Let them know what you do ENJOY reading and specifically name names – give them a good overview of the authors of #CrimeFiction you *devour!* with eagerness and how those break-down into different sub-niches of the genre, too!

Authors in Crime Fiction I love reading include:

* Susan Spann (Hiro Hattori Novels)
– 16th Century Japan about a Jesuit Priest and rogue ninja warrior
* Larry D. Sweazy (Marjorie Truamaine Mysteries)
– 1950s Cosy Crime novels about a book indexer in the Dakotas
* Richard Storry (The Cryptic Lines, Ruritarian Rogues)
– Cosy Historical Crime Fiction
* Rachael Amphlett (Kay Hunter serires) – Cosy Crime (* see note)
* Jennifer Kincheloe (Anna Blanc Mysteries) – Cosy Historical Mysteries
* Clare Chase (Tara Thorpe Mysteries) – Cosy Crime
* Sue Hallgarth (Willa Cather, Edith Lewis Mysteries)
– Cosy Historical Mysteries, Biographical Fiction
* Terry Shames (Samuel Craddock Mysteries) – Cosy Crime
* Anna Lee Huber (Lady Darby Mysteries) – Cosy Historical Mysteries
* Renee Patrick (Edith Head, Lillian Frost Mysteries)
– Cosy Historical Mysteries, Old Hollywood, Biographical Fiction
* Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs) – Cosy Historical Mysteries
* Charles Todd (Beth Crawford Mysteries) – Cosy Historical Crime
* Laurie R. King (Mary Russell series) – variant of Sherlock Holmes
* Cleo Coyle (Coffeehouse Mysteries)
– a bit harder boiled than cosy but I love her characters & the setting!
* Ovidia Yu (Aunty Lee’s Mysteries) – Asian Cosy Crime with a foodie spin

The best example of a Contemporary Thriller author who knew how to write the kind of psychological suspense and thrilling plot I loved reading is J.S. Monroe! (see review) He truly kept me on the very ‘edge’ of my seat, he pulled me through a rather inventive psychological thriller and it was the first time I was invested in a plot which featured an unreliable narrator! I had the joy of interviewing him in January about his newest release for 2020 too.

(*) Note about #KayHunter: despite the fact this is a Contemporary Police Procedual series and sometimes not entirely a Cosy Crime one either – Amphlett doesn’t push me too far afield from what I can handle. There were a few installments where she was going a bit darker than I preferred but for the most part her consistency is writing dramatic Cosy Crime narratives centred round Kay, her husband Adam and her working environment with the police. This is UK based and she goes into the routines associated with police sleuthing crimes. She has some strong language peppering her stories but not overtly so and sometimes the crime scenes are a bit intense but I liked how she chooses to focus on the investigation moreso than the grit and that is what held me into the series – I’ve become truly emotionally connected to Kay and she’s about to release her 9th novel of the series this year. (archive for this series on my blog)

→ Don’t hesitate to break it down further into sub-genres and/or types of Crime Fiction you regularly gravitate towards reading. The way I was going into this was thinking the *more information I share!* the better fit they’ll find stories for me to read. And, that’s the whole point really – you are trusting someone to make selections for you when your purchasing a #CrimeFictionBox vs a regular book subscription box where the selections are already pre-selected and curated for that month’s shipment. This is a distinction I liked about the Crime Fiction Subscription Box!! They are like your personal #CrimeFiction book buyers – choosing the stories they feel you would ENJOY reading and in the process expanding your reach into Crime Fiction!

Types of Crime Fiction I love reading include:

Amateur Sleuths,
Silver-haired Sleuths,
Detective driven plots,
Cosy Mysteries, (Contemporary, Historical, Speculative)
Police Procedural, (though tempered for violence, language, or similar to Kay Hunter)
Forensic Crime Fiction, (just not too graphic if possible)
Spy / Military Thrillers,
Psychological Thrillers, (esp similar to JS Monroe)
and Private Detectives (currently loving the new Magnum, PI)

I know there are some Speculative Fiction Crime series now as well – which encompass my favourite genres of Science Fiction and/or Fantasy – I just haven’t had the chance to dive into those either.

I can even enjoy Crime narratives centred round something – like knitting, teahouses, cofffeehouses, small townes or are foodie in nature.

I used to love Legal Crime Dramas too – not since my days of reading Grisham (who at times pushed me a bit past what I was comfortable with reading) have I focused on these but in regards to tv series I’ve seen more legal crime dramas – the latest of course I love are Bull and For the People (though I didn’t realise until now it was cancelled as I haven’t seen it in awhile). However in regards to crime tv overall I loved Rissoli and Isles, Perception, the original NCIS (minus most of those crime/autopsy scenes which I avoided looking at) & NOLA, and several authors. Rosemary & Thyme (from the UK) was brilliant because it involved gardening, creative plots and a cosy look at sleuthing. I love finding women centred crime series but I read a wide range of leading characters and styles of crime overall.

(*sidenote: Completely forgot to mention “Instinct” I recently binge watched this Winter/Spring starring Alan Cumming! A series I wished dearly wasn’t cancelled.)

Let’s face it – the more we start to EXPLORE a genre we love reading, the more particular we are going to become about *how we read!* those stories and which authors are going to be giving us the wicked good reads we want to continue to seek out and read even more! This is why I loved how approachable the #CrimeFictionBox as a company was to the reader and the new subscriber to their service.

More points to consider when choosing the #CrimeFictionBox:

→ Boxes ship the last week of every month in order to get there the first week of every month. No deadline, if you order on let’s say April 3rd, you’ll still get your April box out.

→ Remember: if a customer emails and asks for specific authors and/or types of stories not to be included they will do their best to fulfill those requests. They’re a small outfit so it’s not an issue.

→ If someone has a bad experience with the books, we just add an additional book the following month. No returns on books received.

→ They offer monthly, yearly and a bookcase option on their Boxes Page! You can choose from receiving 2x books per month OR 5x books per month. Those subscriptions are also calculated for yearly subscriptions vs monthly installments. The bookcase feature is a lovely idea – a small wooden bookcase filled with 5x books of Crime Fiction!

→ One aspect of this subscription service I *loved!* most is that they champion #CanLit Authors! You can request to receive Canadian Authors in your boxes and for me that is the best component of the box itself because I’ve been wanting to source and read more #CanLit Authors for such a long time!

→ In regards to the Crime Fiction novelists being featured in the #CrimeFictionBox: I had a curious itch to know the answer to this question as I read and follow so many who write these kinds of stories – I know some might visit my post out of curiosity… the answer was a sweet one: #CrimeFictionBox is OPEN to featuring world-wide authors of Crime!! Isn’t that beyond fab!?!

→ Shipping is FREE for North America. Seriously. I think that’s a game changer for most considering how steep shipping and handling fees are these days!

→ Before you ask – there aren’t ‘extras’ or swag or other inclusions right now currently in the boxes. There are plans being developed towards that end – however, wait til you read my REVEAL post and realise how *fab!* these boxes are even without some of the ‘extras’ you might be familiar with in other subscription boxes. REMEMBER these are tailored to your readerly interests and thereby not the traditional subscription box service.

(*) Due Note: I am a promotional #partner and/or Influencer with Crime Fiction Subscription Box but similar to how I receive books from publishers, authors & publicists or early review programs – I am not being monetarily compensated for sharing my experiences, impressions, reviews or the links to their website on my blog Jorie Loves A Story nor on my feeds on Twitter (@joriestory). Nor for the coupon code which is a discount for new subscribers to the Crime Fiction Subscription Box service.

IF you’d like to order your own Crime Fiction Subscription box,

you can use my coupon code → 25%JORIE

→ This code is valid from 3p (EST) Saturday, the 14th – forward.

*This applies to your first order only.
And, reflects ONLY on the Main Box & Big Box Monthly subscriptions.*

DUE NOTE: This coupon code originally reflected 10%JORIE.

I am quite EXCITED to share my experience of receiving my 1st #CrimeFictionBox – which I can disclose arrived this week! The turnover from the moment I first started communicating with them to the day the parcel arrived was wicked quick!

I cannot wait to post my REVEAL of the 1st #CrimeFictionBox and blog my initial reactions, takeaways and experience of finding which genres of Crime I received, which authors were enclosed and just the #awesomesauce way in which the box was packed which became an ice breaker with my parents and postal workers alike!

In other words, the box itself stood out and became a conversation starter!!

I felt truly #blessed to receive the honour of being an influencer for my first book subscription box – to be doubly blessed and to be a partner blogger & influencer for my second subscription box is the kind of NEWS you need to pinch yourself over!!

Especially when you love supporting Indie business owners, have an affinity for your Northern Neighbour (ie. Canada) and have been actively trying to tap into reading more #CanLit in your bookish life – honestly, this #subscriptionbox felt custom fitted to my own readerly wanderings!!

I can’t wait to hear from you, dear hearts!

Have you heard about #CrimeFictionBox?

IF so, what was your favourite box you’ve received?

IF not, does this sound like the kind of box you’d enjoy receiving?

What are your personal experiences with #bookboxes!? I’d love to know!

Help me spread the word by clicking this s/o tweet to your followers:

I just found out about #CrimeFictionBox via Jorie Loves A Story! This #bookblogger has a coupon code for one of their #bookboxes! This #bookbox ships FREE to subscribers in North America, too! Click To Tweet

{SOURCES: Stories of Jorie banner created by Jorie using Unsplash.com photography. (Creative Commons Zero) via Canva. Crime Fiction Subscription Box banner provided by crimefictionsubscription.com and is used with permission. Coupon Code 25%JORIE was given to me by crimefictionsubscription.com as I am a new Influencer / promotional partner of theirs for their book subscription boxes (I do not receive monetary compensation). Post dividers provided by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.

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

.@joriestory📌#StoriesOfJorie

🎊See anything NEW in my bio?

I 💜reading #CosyCrime police procedurals Thrillers & #CrimeFiction – happy to ANNOUNCE I'm an influencer for @crimefictionbox!🙌Follow my #CrimeFictionBox adventures!#bookbloggers #bookbox📖📦https://t.co/xMPg3bMiWB

— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) March 13, 2020

I just found out about #CrimeFictionBox via Jorie Loves A Story! This #bookblogger has a coupon code for one of their #bookboxes! This #bookbox ships FREE to subscribers in North America, too! https://t.co/500tuNwWIr via @joriestory

— Clare Chase (@ClareChase_) March 14, 2020