#WWWWednesdays No.12: On how Jorie found readerly inspiration during the Christian Fiction Reading Safari and restored her readerly life!

Posted Wednesday, 9 September, 2020 by jorielov 2 Comments

#WWWednesdays graphic created by Jorie in Canva.

I ♥ the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity it gives the reader! Smiles. Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read providing a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! Smiles. ♥ the brilliance of it’s concept!

This weekly meme was originally hosted by Should Be Reading who became A Daily Rhythm. Lovingly restored and continued by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:

  • What are you currently reading!?
  • What did you recently finish reading!?
  • What do you think you’ll read next!?

After which, your meant to click over to THIS WEEK’s WWWWednesdays to share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! Score! Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!

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Join the Convo via: #WWWWednesdays

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

What are you currently reading!?

(Wednesday 9th September to Wednesday 16th September)

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The books I am reading for review:

My Mother's Kitchen by Meera Ekkanath KleinRescuing the Rancher by Claire McEwenElizabeth Obstinate Headstrong Girl audiobook cover by the Quill Collective

Kingdom Above the Cloud by Maggie PlattAlaskan Dreams by Beth Carpenter

  • My Mother’s Kitchen by Meera Ekkanath Klein
  • Rescuing the Rancher by Claire McEwen
  • Elizabeth Obstinate Headstrong Girl (anthology) audiobook by the Quill Collective
  • The River Jewel (prequel The Letter series) by Kathleen Shoop

My Mother’s Kitchen is one of my #SatBookChat guests novels from this Summer which unfortunately was detained from being read and finished for review due to my increasing migraines from May-August. I went five months without them (Jan-May) and then, unfortunately they returnt with such a fierce hold I thought I’d never shake them until September arrived. I am hopeful for another long hiatus from having them gripping me in their vise! Towards that end, I am starting to re-queue the stories I was meant to be reviewing for #SatBookChat – this is the first one I wanted to finish and share from my Summer guests whilst I am also re-queuing all guests from 2020 I’ve fallen behind on finishing due to various postponements within my readerly life this year.

You’ll be seeing an uptick in #SatBookChat reviews from September to December as I believe I’ll have just enough to spread out throughout the last quarter of the year to conclude the year on a clean slate of being fully caught up with all guests and their stories. I also want to finish the archives for the chats and the rewind posts – threading through Jorie Loves A Story (back-posting) to reflect the day of each of the chats themselves. The full transcripts (archives) will be housed in the Moments of @SatBookChat.

Rescuing the Rancher is the fourth novel in one of my beloved Harlequin Heartwarming series Heroes of Shelter Creek which I’ve had the pleasure of discovering whilst hosting blog tours with Prism Book Tours. This time round, I noticed the author announcing via Twitter she was seeking book bloggers who wanted to read and review her fourth novel in the series – happily I made the cut and was able to request both the second and fourth novel for review!! Eek. I was beyond overjoyed as I had missed the second whilst I read the third! Harlequin Heartwarming is one of the few imprints who publishes series I can move forward and backwards within reading and never feel I’ve lost traction with both the stories and the characters; however, having said that – whenever I have the chance to back-read one of the series I’m invested into the characters’ lives is a chance I cannot pass up as I definitely want to see how everyone’s story evolved through the series!!

Ahead of writing this #WWWednesdays post you’ll notice that I finished reading the second novel After the Rodeo by Ms McEwen and how it became one of my favourite reads! I was attempting to finish reading Rescuing the Rancher this past weekend and week, however, with Mum’s medical emergency and other issues which came about – I must admit my focus was quite ‘off’. Plus, once the new week began – I’ve been consumed with wildfire news via streaming livestreams off YT or catching the news as it breaks on Twitter. My heart is with everyone in those evacuation zones as much as I quite literally either have personal friends, family friends or know authors I’ve loved reading in every affected Western state! It makes it soul crushing to know how widespread the devastation is whilst not knowing if someone you know personally is either evacuating or is in a zone of safety away from the fires. I need to read this book for the positive outcome it inspires to have in the ending – but at the moment, my heart has just felt ‘full’ with IRL fires.

I was able to listen to the Foreword by Tessa Dare and the first short story within the audiobook of Elizabeth: Obstinate Headstrong Girl as I blogged about my ruminations on behalf of those sections of the book for my blog tour stop on the 5th of September. Thankfully, I have the rest of September to fully enjoy the beautiful collection ahead of hosting the editor Christina Boyd during @SatBookChat on the 3rd of October! I cannot wait to dive back into this collection as I felt so wonderfully attached inside it due to the narration by Elizabeth Grace!

Kingdom Above the Cloud I’ve been attempting to read all Summer and something distracts me from starting the story! I previously hosted a book spotlight about the story ahead of #WyrdAndWonder Year 3 as I truly felt I was going to be reading it shortly after the spotlight ran – sadly if my migraines hadn’t returnt I might have accomplished that goal! I even put it on my shortlist of #mustreads for the Christian Reading Safari this year as I thought it might be a good time to read an INSPY Fantasy novel – however, in that regard, my readings were cut short by severe lightning storms and thus, it has shifted into September wherein I am not just recapturing the joy of my leftover #WyrdAndWonder TBR reads (will be announced next week) but I am also participating in #SelfPublishedFantasyMonth which I will disclose today as well. Ergo, this is one of the next books of Fantasy I want to be reading early this month.

Alaskan Dreams was delayed reaching me initially for the blog tour (wherein I hosted a spotlight) and had the unfortunate timing to be with me in May. As foresaid the migraines marched back into my life and took out a lot of hours of readerly joy – this is a story I cannot wait to dive into as I love the author’s collective works and this is a series I am enjoying bit by bit! Honestly – I never have a bad reading hour when I’m tucked into a Harlequin Heartwarming Contemporary Romance! These romances have given me back a lot of joy since my days of reviewing ChocLit.

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#CFSRS20 leftovers & stories I’m finishing this week
& into the rest of the year:

[ as disclosed via my Announcement Post ]

→ Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish

Hadley Beckett's Next Dish by Bethany Turner

A snippet of insight from my forthcoming review:

[ return on 20th September for my stop on the blog tour! ]

Hadley Beckett has this internal sunshine about herself wherein even when she’s stressed to the max – she’s still a champion of trying to focus on the small things and not allow others round her to tip her over the edge of her own sanity. That is of course until this Max fellow who comes off as quite the cad as he doesn’t give two figs about Hadley whilst displaying his ego as if he were the most important chef in the world. Mind you, they were involved with a cooking show sequencing a competition for the ‘Culinary Channel’ (which in my mind was either Food Network or Cooking Channel) but the entire time the cast and crew are attempting to film what needed to get in the bag that day, Max with his less than gracious ego kept butting heads and making filming adversely difficult for all involved!

Hadley was betwixt a rock and a hard place knowing how to tap dance round Max – he infuriated her and those round him by his antics but it was a bit more personal for Hadley! She had admired the man and appreciated his work ethic and the accomplishments he’d made – but in person? She couldn’t be any closer to being oil to his water! They simply locked horns like mountain goats and didn’t have a lot of common ground. To add further insult to her injury, the whole crew treated Max like he could do no wrong and that if you tried to stand up for yourself? You only came to the conclusion that you didn’t even have to be in the room anymore. I felt for Hadley – here she was trying to be professional and everyone is bending over backwards for the jerk in the chef’s hat!

What endeared me the most about how Turner wrote Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish is that if you needed a wicked respite from everyday life, this is a novel writ in a tone of narrative that not only makes you feel like you’re on a self-directed holiday but you can’t help but soak into her words, the twists of phrase she uses to illuminate the drama and to feel yourself relaxing into the story. If you are blessed to be able to hear this story in audiobook with the delightfully brilliant Aimee Lilly its a sweetened journey for you because Ms Lilly performs as if this were a one woman play bringing to life every nuanced moment of the story and giving you a narration that feels larger than life! I loved the intimacy of this performance – of how Lilly hugged so dearly close to the words of Turner and how in combination of each other, they built this beautifully sophisticated world ‘behind’ not only celebrity chefs and the cookery arts but behind how the path for any woman to find success in a field of men is one incredible Mt Everest to climb!

This has to be one of the best treasured discoveries of my readerly wanderings during the Christian Fiction Reading Safari this year as I was just not expecting the depth of comedic timing etching through the narrator’s performance nor the breadth of dramatic comedy oosing out of the writerly styling of Ms Turner! (big smiles)

I’ve had this on my shelf since I participated in a social takeover tour with a blog touring company I hosted a few times this Spring, 2020. The book was sent to me in order to take part in the social outreach by the publisher and thereby I was not obliged to post a review during that time window or thereafter. I wasn’t sure when I could get into the novel per se but I knew after having spent a few minutes looking over the plot and getting a vibe of the author’s style – I had a sneaky feeling she’d be one of my #mustread favourites for Contemporary INSPY!

How true my intuition proved!

I also had a suspicion I’d enjoy this one as a ‘book in hand, audiobook in ears’ kind of reading – which is why I pulled up the audiobook via Scribd. I made it through the first hour or so on Scribd before I had to put my membership on pause – happily I found my regional library has this audiobook via their CloudLibrary which is how I am resuming listening and reading the book! They happen to have a large repository of INSPY Lit on audiobook – so you might see me grabbing more than one of those to be listening to in the coming weeks and months.

The performance of the narrator is such a champion of authenticity of a character that you are truly rooted in her voice and the whole journey of Hadley Beckett just bursts alive in your ears! I cannot wait to finish my stay within this world and yet, part of me is remorseful of having to exit it! Oyy.

I was enjoying myself so dearly much when I saw the announcement for the blog tour I decided to withhold sharing my review and pushed it forward into September. I hadn’t foreplanned postponing finishing the story but you can credit the lightning storms for that unexpected shift!

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When He Found Me by Victoria BylinA Gift to Cherish by Victoria Bylin

→ When He Found Me & A Gift to Cherish (Road to Refuge, Books One & Two) by Victoria Bylin

A snippet of insight from my forthcoming review(s):

Return this Sunday, 13th September for my newest double review for #INSPYSundays!

When He Found Me soon finds its rhythm as a dual narrative storyline wherein we shift back and forth between MJ and Shane with where Daisy is finding herself right now at the mercy of having Lyn help her find her next step towards a better tomorrow. MJ has a lot of emotional baggage aching in her heart at this junction of the story. She’s fraught with the concerns she has about how to create a future when her present feels unravelled and unspun like a bit of yarn that hasn’t yet been rewound to be knitted into something new. She finds herself contemplating the kind of thoughts that can get you into trouble – they can cause far more anxiety than asking for guidance and the patience to see through the harder times still ahead. She’s like all of us who has regrets and tends to second guess all her choices. Bylin owns that emotional anguish with MJ and gives the reader a reason to have sympathy for her plight. One of the key struggles she’s having is her idea about womanhood and the roles in which a woman plays in marriage. She’s facing a circumstance that could send anyone buckling under the stress of its recovery but she has something inside her that refuses to just throw in the towel. I personally felt it was Cody who was inspiring her forward. Despite everything else, MJ took to mumhood like a duck to water and in of itself she was renewed and strengthened through raising her son.

I love finding wordsmiths who can capture us so wholly emotionally into the context of their stories within such a short expanse of space as to give fuller depth and breadth to the story they’re about to tell us. It is wonderful to read her prose and to feel dearly hugged close and centre to her characters as if we weren’t just entering their lives ‘now’ but have already established ourselves as long term residents inside their lives.

The level of continuity in this story is what first impressed me because I am a reader who thrives on a cohesive sequencing of both serial continuity and the right kind of pacing that allows you to feel the immersive experience of series being knit together which has different characters moving in and out of the storyline.

This is the second wickedest surprise of the Christian Fiction Reading Safari – as I never would have found Ms Bylin’s stories without first reading Janet W. Ferguson’s Magnolia Storms! The serendipity for me was selecting Magnolia Storms to be my first read for the Safari itself which allowed me to reach out to Ms Bylin in time to receive her books to read ahead of hosting her for @SatBookChat -wells, in theory that was the plan – severe lightning storms pushed forward my readings of both novels into September but I did read enough of the first novel When He Found Me to draw a strong enough impression of her writerly style to host a layered discussion during #SatBookChat and thereby endeavouring to help introduce my chatters to her stories for their own readerly wanderings which is the whole point behind why I host #SatBookChat – to connect readers with writers and vice versa. (big smiles)

This time round, it was the reverse blessing – a writer I had read connected me with a #newtomeauthor and it happens to be one I cannot stop devouring! I am so hugged inside these novels it is unreal! Meaning given the heaviness of the storylines evolving through the Road to Refuge series and my initial feelings that I’d attach myself more into the sequel than the first novel itself – I was quite gobsmacked by how readily I fused myself into MJ’s world and how much I celebrated the treasured experience I was having by following the muse of Bylin!

These novels became a cornerstone moment for me during the Safari this year as my whole purpose in participating is to find new voices of INSPY Lit to not just read during the month of the hosted event but to find authors I can continue to read long after the event – both during the same year and years beyond who are writing the stories I love to read continuously! After having read Magnolia Storms I knew I wanted to continue forward reading the rest of the Coastal Hearts series by Ms Ferguson and secondly, after just having an introduction into Bylin’s style during the Safari I knew I had found another author to follow as well. Their both aligned in how they are writing convicting INSPY Realistic Contemporary Women’s Fiction and I couldn’t be happier if I was on a mountain singing their praises to the birds of prey I’d find at that elevation!

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Never Let Go by Elizabeth GoddardYours Truly, Thomas by Rachel Fordham

→ Never Let Go (Uncommon Justice, Book One) by Elizabeth Goddard

→ Yours Truly, Thomas by Rachel Fordham

→ Before the Season Ends (Forsythe Trilogy) by Linore Rose Burkard

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This was the YEAR I told myself – three years of participating in the Christian Fiction Reading Safari and I have been wanting to read Elizabeth Goddard EVERY SINGLE YEAR! And, yet… ooh dear me, life just unexpectedly diverts my attention! This year, I grabbed a copy of this lovely novel (Never Let Go) in both regular and large print – as Mum had read this ahead of me and LOVED it. She told me – skip the Love Inspired Suspense series I read and read this one FIRST. Then she decided she wanted to re-read it with me and we could pull our thoughts together and discuss it in full. Ergo the two copies – technically the LP edition was her purchase request at the library as well (and yes they bought the sequel for her too; also in LP). Except to say – between Mum’s chaotic work schedule and my Dad facing some new issues post-stroke (as he will be five years out this November) we didn’t have the chance to read this lovely in tandem as we planned. We’re still dedicated to reading it but it might take more time than initially projected. My new goal is to finish it before New Year’s Eve!! lol

I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to settle into Yours Truly, Thomas as I knew this was a sequel of sorts to the novel The Hope of Azure Springs as she writes stories within the same small towne setting. However, although I had the chance to read the first ahead of the second I decided I wanted to read this novel moreso than the first and if you ask me ‘why’ I cannot remember the answer! Something I was debating about myself as I hemmed and hawed over should I / shouldn’t I queue this one for one of my readings this year! lol

Finding the audiobook edition via my regional library’s CloudLibrary sealed it and when it arrived before the end of August, I listened to it whilst reading the first twenty-five pages which became one of my featured posts during the Safari itself – wherein I put together a special INSPY #TopTenTuesday!

I should have known though – I spent a wicked amount of time *devouring!* the Signed, Sealed & Delivered series via Hallmark Movies Now (a streaming app for Roku) earlier this year or was it late last year? Either way – I LOVE the series and never had the chance to see it in full until we subscribed to HMN. The whole concept of a dead letter office appealled to me as I’ve been a postal mail correspondent for most of my life (save seven to ten years of a hiatus) and the idea of lost letters finding their way back to being received was a concept that just pulled my heartstrings. As I listened to the narrator and read the text myself – somehow, someway I found myself pulling further into this story and I honestly need to finish reading it this year! Imagine that?!

Quirkily enough, I was fully intending on reading and finishing Before the Season Ends ahead of Ms Burkard scheduled visit during @SatBookChat this past Saturday, 29th August. Throw in a weekend of invasive and intense lightning storms and you had a reader (me!) knocked offline! I had to cancel the chat at the last minute, quickly reschedule it for October and thus, I put my readings of this lovely on hold until closer to the start of October in order to have the story and characters fresh in my mind when I host the chat. The review is also rescheduled for the 10th of October, the new date Ms Burkard will be the guest author for #SatBookChat. *whew!*

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A note of Gratitude to Sydney @ Singing Librarian Books

for hosting the Christian Fiction Reading Safari! (big smiles!)

For the past three years I’ve been participating in the readathon wherein I have tucked into stories by #newtomeauthors of INSPY Lit! From Contemporary to Historical to Suspense – whether from Indie Authors or major trade and even the Harlequin imprint Love Inspired Suspense – each year, I’ve endeavoured to spend the readathon seeking out new voices in INSPY and focusing on enlarging my scope of which authors I want to continue to seek out as time shifts forward. This is in conjunction with my personal reading challenge to seek out at least *70!* new authors of INSPY!

This year unlike in years past, I didn’t ink out a particular queue of stories to be reading each week – rather, I wanted a more low key path into the stories – which is the beauty of how Sydney hosts the readathon itself! It is very reader driven to the point where you can read as little or as much as you want, as you do a self-check each day to let Sydney know which new author you’ve read, which story of theirs was last finished and if you’ve shared on social or your blog what you’ve done for the readathon and/or if you’ve followed one of the sponsoring authors!

For me, this meant that if I followed a new author (via Twitter or their newsletter), read a novel or shared either a tweet or blog post or review (on my blog) – I’d fill out the form for Sydney. By mid-August our Summer storms of insanity went off the charts and I had trouble with my connectivity overall. This slowed down my process as some of the stories I was listening via audiobook and others I was reading in print. Despite the fact I felt like I was failing my own goals this year and not making the kind of progress I wanted to make with my readings – I realised this week as August was ending I hadn’t failed at all! In fact, in retrospect I achieved more than I originally set out to do which was serendipitously due to authors who I met throughout the month who visited with me during my chat @SatBookChat!

Those authors were Ms Janet W. Ferguson of whom I reached out to after reading “Magnolia Storms” – an #unputodwnable read of mine for the year who in turn recommended that I seek out the stories by Victoria Bylin who was one of her favourite new discoveries this year! I decided to reach out to Ms Bylin and it led me to reading her Road to Refuge series. Both of these lovelies became my featured guests during #SatBookChat in August and I couldn’t have felt happier for merging my bookish chat on Saturdays in-line with my readings for the Christian Reading Safari!

Sydney does an incredible amount of work ahead of the readathon to ensure we all enjoy ourselves – from getting the unexpected surprises of winning books throughout the event itself to giving us the dedicated month in which to seek out the INSPY stories we desire to be reading. One of the beauties of participating in readathons is the self-directedness of them and of the ability to be reading the same kinds of stories as everyone else involved. Even if we don’t interact with each other (as I think most were on Facebook this year rather than Twitter; as I noted I was the only one using a *thread on the tag) it still gratifying to know we’re all reading INSPY together.

And, all of this is due to Sydney’s vision for how she hosts the readathon! To which she has my infinite gratitude as this has become one of my favourite annual events!

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

What did you recently finish reading!?

[ the stories which I loved reading recently ]

A Bridge Home by Virginia McCulloughMagnolia Storms novel Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com.Josette by Danielle Thorne

Ready to Trust by Tina RadcliffeHis Daughter's Prayer by Danielle ThorneAfter the Rodeo by Claire McEwen

Kings and Daemons by Marcus LeeElizabeth Obstinate Headstrong Girl audiobook cover by the Quill CollectiveThe River Jewel by Kathleen Shoop

My Life in Plants by Katie Vaz

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[via audiobook from NetGalley]

[via print]

  • A Bridge Home (Back to Bluestone River, Book Three) by Virginia McCullough (see also Review)
  • Magnolia Storms (Coastal Hearts series, Book One) by Janet W. Ferguson (see also Review)
  • Josette by Danielle Thorne (see also Review)
  • Ready to Trust (Hearts of Oklahoma, Book Two) by Tina Radcliffe (see also Review)
  • After the Rodeo (Heroes of Shelter Creek, Book Two) by Claire McEwen (see also Review)
  • Kings and Daemons (The Gifted and the Cursed, Book One) by Marcus Lee (see also Review)
  • Elizabeth: Obstinate Headstrong Girl (audiobook) by The Quill Collective (see also Review)
  • The River Jewel (Prequel Novella, Letter series) by Kathleen Shoop (see also Review)

[via an author’s blog]

  • We Interrupt this Broadcast (prequel novella, Lady Astronaut series) by Mary Robinette Kowal
    (see also the short story via Ms Kowal’s blog) – full thoughts and reactions are forthcoming on my review for The Calculating Stars

A Bridge Back Home is a story which delighted me and took me by surprise as I wasn’t sure what to expect from the next installment of the Back to Bluestone River series. I had a bit of a lackluster experience with the previous novel in the series but as I had loved the first novel in the series, I thought perhaps the third gets the series back on track? And, guess what!? It did! I really felt reconnected to both the series, the characters and to the forward motion of the series!!

I’ve been waiting to read Magnolia Storms for three years – ever since I won a copy of it from the first Christian Fiction Reading Safari back in 2017. I am not even sure what stopped me from reading it until this August – however, sometimes I think stories find us but they are not always found at the time in which they are meant to be read. Which explains it for me – as reading Magnolia Storms this year just connected with me on a heart/soul level of interest. I felt so entwined into their lives and into this setting that moving forward reading the next stories is going to be a complete JOY!

Josette was an unexpected blessing to receive as I was initially contacted to review His Daughter’s Prayer by Ms Thorne. She became one of my @SatBookChat guest authors for July and thereby I had the chance to request a second book after the initial one she offered to me. Josette happens to be her debut novel as much as Regency Romance writ in the style of affection she had for Jane Austen. As you will find on my review, it is a tender and sweet romance which not only reflected the start of a writer’s career (as she found her writerly rhythm within it) but it happily reflects the Regency, the ton and the curious way society has of putting pressure on unmarried women. I enjoyed my time spent within the world and hope others find it who enjoy the same stories.

Ready to Trust became my first novel I’ve read by Ms Radcliffe but as I revealled on my review I’ve known the author for quite a long time as our paths have crossed via Seekerville – a blog dedicated to writers who are in the process of becoming published in the world of INSPY Lit with a strong focus on Christian Fiction. I love Love Inspired Suspense novels but I am under-read in their Contemporary line as previously I read their Historical imprint for Love Inspired. The Contemporaries I had shied away from a bit except for cross-overs from their Suspense line which I have read in tandem with Mum as LI: Suspense are put of our guilty pleasure reads! (big smiles) I’ve been slowly getting re-inspired to try their Contemporaries and when I spied this blog tour I thought ‘why not?’ and found myself a delightful new author to enjoy reading!!

His Daughter’s Prayer is a story I did not want to see end! I was holding onto this one through weeks of personal stress, tucking into the novel every free chance I had to read. Savouring the pages as I read them and resuming it another day. I normally don’t get to read stories over multiple days or weeks and with this one, I felt as if I could spend more time inside its chapters and take a leisure walk with the characters which enriched my joy with them. I definitely hope this develops into a series as I would love to return to the small towne which charmed by heart!

After the Rodeo is the second novel in my beloved Heroes of Shelter Creek series by Ms McEwen and one that I’ve hungered after reading ever since I’ve read the first and third novels during blog tours for this author via Prism Book Tours. This is a story I’ve been curious about for so long I was hoping I’d re-attach into where the story is set after having read the third which followed suit! I hadn’t needed to worry – as McEwen makes the transitions back and forth throughout her series quite easy on her readers and I was immediately re-connecting with Jace! So easily in fact, I felt I hadn’t read the series out of sequence! (big smiles)

Kings and Daemons as I’ve been lamenting elsewhere, this story took me by complete surprise as usually Dark Fantasy & Sword and Sorcery plots are a hard sell for me. Mostly due to the amount of darker undertones, the violence and the ways in which they feel so oppressive convicting to read. The reason I was able to get involved into the plot of this novel is because of how much Mr Lee illuminated the Light inside his storyline – he had extreme plots of adversity his characters had to overcome but he threaded Light throughout their plight. Despite the extreme slant of impossible situations facing his characters, he found a way to give me just enough ‘hope & mercy’ to see a path forward for them and to find myself curious to see how their lives would resolve. I was so intrigued by this novel I am hosting a RAL for it during @WyrdAndWonder 2021.

Elizabeth Obstinate Headstrong Girl is the latest anthology collection by The Quill Collective whose dedicated writers bring today’s latest after canon stories rooted out of Jane Austen novels and characters I’ve found to be not only authentically writ but are dearly entertaining to read or listen to via audiobook! My experiences involve the audiobooks as I’ve previously listened and reviewed the Rational Creatures anthology whilst I am in the throes of re-listening and hearing in full the anthological collection from last year Yuletide which I’ve decided to put into my #blogmas and #JaneAustenChristmas readings as apparently August was not a good month for me for #AustenInAugust as previously forecasted.

The River Jewel was an unexpected surprise – I’ve been trying to dive back into my Shoop readings for a number of years now as two of the Letter series books have been languishing on my backlogue for quite a long while now. However, when I spied this blog tour coming for September it felt rather fitting as this is the year I requeued stories off my backlogue to be read extending on the process I made last year to requeue them as well – giving me a unique advantage to enter into the series properly now with the prequel novella (which is The River Jewel) whilst continuing to read the first and second novel of the series this Autumn. I’m hoping to finish the first novel before October and the sequel next month. Previously I’ve read another series by Ms Shoop.

I love short and shorter fiction – this is in part why I have a propensity of seeking out short story and novella collections in Speculative Fiction as much as I now have an attachment to after canon stories in short narrative style for Jane Austen. However, nothing quite prepared me for the curious rabbit hole of intrigue I would find myself chasing down when it came to understanding the chronological order of reading the Lady Astronaut series until the series itself arrived by post! (which I’ll further explain in a moment on this WWWednesdays) Through a lot of back and forth research, I uncovered ALL the shorts attached to this series are available for any reader to find on the author’s blog. On my reviews which will start to generate on Jorie Loves A Story, I have linked all of them in the order in which they are meant to be read per the timeline of the series itself for easy reference and reading for my readers who might want to take this journey themselves.

I had such a strong reaction to this short story – and it packs such a punch of reality into how one person wanted to effectively rewrite History in order to save humanity that he took desperate actions to achieve his end result. That is the story in a nutshell and yet there are so many other things happening within the short itself, it was an interesting way to peer into the author’s vision for the series as much as gain a footing into her style of writing.

Note: I would be curious if other readers of the Lady Astronaut series have read the shorts in sequence with the novels or if they strictly read the novels and did not read the shorts? Whilst at the same time, did they read the duology (The Calculating Stars andThe Fated Sky) first and then, The Relentless Moon? Or did they approach it entirely differently than I am myself? I know most of the folks I interact with during #SciFiMonth have a two year lead on me reading this series as it has been a series I’ve ached to read since 2018 which is the first year I started seeing a murmuring of interest about this in the blogosphere.

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The NetGalley Audiobooks:

My Life in Plants is quite the extraordinary memoir which takes us close into the author’s life as we explore her life as told through the encounters she’s had with various plants who have become like everyday companions through all the different milestones and benchmarks of her life as it was lived. It was a singular unique listening experience and as you will see from my review, we hug so close to her hours it becomes a very emotional listen by the time it concludes.

The Secret Garden is one of my beloved Classics and as I have known the story in various incantations of exploration (ie. book, film, etc) I decided it might be a lovely respite for me recently to listen to an abridged edition which was only a bit more in length than My Life in Plants. I never thought I’d be attracted to short form audio narration but I am finding new joy in stories that are either a few hours (1-3) or less in length. I was going to try to queue The Secret Garden to read this week ahead of posting this WWW post – however, I simply ran out of hours. Be sure to find those thoughts in the week ahead.

As a reader I am finding myself healing my ability to re-address Non-Fiction through requesting audiobooks via NetGalley. I noticed I was detaching myself from being able to focus and process the Non-Fiction books I was receiving for review and despite my best efforts for the past three years, I never connected the dots until recently that it was the migraines themselves which was causing all the distruptions and lack of focus. Now that I’m emerging out of having them on a monthly basis and reverting back to where they are seasonally triggered (as I went without them from January to May) I am noticing I’m able to once again get back into Non-Fiction. The last clustering of migraines which affected me was between May-August. I even found a new natural alternative medicine to help aide the prevention of migraines and so far, knock on wood, it is doing what it is meant to giving me more alleviation.

As a result, I’m going to try to pepper in more Non-Fiction each week/month until the end of the year as I’ve been start/stopping reading a lot of Non-Fiction I would love to finally be able to finish and to write reviews which reflect the impressions that those books gave me as I was reading them.

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And, the stories which were DNF for me:

[ even though I had such good hopes of loving them ]

[via audiobook from NetGalley]

[And, the one I forgot to download!]

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I was quite disappointed in myself for missing the opportunity to listen to x + y as the audiobook was narrated by Moira Quirk of whom I love listening to as a narrator! I was truly looking forward to this incredible book as it was merging two interests of mine as a reader: Mathematics & Gender Studies. In recent years, I’ve been reading more Feminist driven stories and exploring more diverse selections which tackle topics within Gender Studies and Gender Expression, etc.

I dearly wanted to listen to this one and this was available right as I was just sorting out my tablet and the NetGalley app. I hadn’t realised then how quickly the titles disappear once they are archived and the whole process was quite confusing in those early days! This title slipped past me whilst I was sorting all of that out whilst dealing with some IRL difficulties as well – not to mention we had a serious issue with severe lightning storms concurrent to the IRL stress which kept me offline. In other words, rather than disinterest on my part it was a confliction with circumstances and a lack of time. Which is why I wrote a note about why I couldn’t listen to the audiobook to the publisher and how I hoped I could get a copy of it via one of my libraries (via OverDrive or CloudLibrary) or hopefully the title would be added to Scribd and I could listen to it that way instead. *fingers crossed!*

When it came to Gender Rebels – I had such a positive reaction to the Introduction (as per the notes I have on its behalf) and yet, shortly thereafter, as I was trying to settle into each of the individual chapters themselves, I found myself shifting my opinion of the joy I had in the beginning. I mentioned this to the publisher when I turnt in my reasons for not reviewing the audiobook – in truth, I have enough notes to post about this title and yet, I was left with a conflicting conscience about even promoting it because it felt like such a good idea at first listen and then, as the audiobook continues its path into the lives of the women its featuring – the less I felt it had achieved its original goal which was to highlight and champion the gender rebels it was trying to celebrate but fell short of the mark. I’d be curious if anyone else pick this one to listen to and equally felt their impressions turning sour the longer they listened to it?

With Solstice Shadows I only made it to Chapter 8 before I realised I had to withdraw from listening to the rest of the novel. For me, what immediately fell flat is the consistent repetitive nature of how the story was told – I quite literally found myself in a ‘loop’ of repeated information and in sequences which matched previous ones which became a bit disinteresting after awhile. I had a lot to share about the story despite those key issues and were able to put together a review for both NetGalley and the blog tour I had joined on its behalf – but overall? I honestly felt this was better suited for other listeners who prefer this kind of style of story.

As I was listening to Underprivileged Overachiever, I was at first struck by the bold narrative styling of the author (as he narrates his own story) but then, after writing quite a bit of positive attributes on his behalf and of the ways in which he is presenting his story, I was first alarmed by unexpected content disclosures (as there is a short memory he shared about his girlfriend which a) I felt wasn’t meant to be shared to others and b) turnt me off as a listener as its a shocking disclosure) as much as the fact, despite my earnest intention to hear his story and remain unbias with how it was being disclosed – parts of me felt uncomfortable about how he was approaching the story to be told and the ways in which the overall presentation was a story I simply could not get invested in hearing. I did submit quite a lot of feedback to the publisher, stating both the positives and the negatives for me as a listener and how disappointed I was I could not continue to listen to this book.

Of these titles, as I listened to more of Solstice Shadows than the other books, I did submit a review for that title to NetGalley which helped my reviewer % on the site itself. I have a very small percentage overall as try as I might to listen and review more titles, I’ve had too much to transition through personally to make any enroads of a difference in getting more reviews submitted. I’m hopeful by mid-to-late September I can see a more positive % than my humbled starting one I am currently sporting! I am taking advantage of the Listen Now feature where you can get audiobooks without direct approval as much as I do request direct from publishers as well. It is an interesting new journey for me and I’m taking it one story at a time.

The blessings of joining NetGalley is being able to find new narrators I love hearing and finding my way back into reading Non-Fiction which is something I could not fully resolve without realising I needed to start listening to audio Non-Fiction before I can return to reading those in print. However which way you arrive on NetGalley, I hope your journey into the stories is as uplifting and inspiring as mine. You’ll see new updates every week about the stories I’ve heard and the stories I am eager to be reading next via my NetGalley Shelf.

Question for those on NetGalley: What do you do with your drafted reviews for the stories you marked as DNF? Do you curate a way to still post about them on your blog or do those drafted reviews just occupy a space in your private archives and remain experiences that were just never finished? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as its a new adventure for me sorting out NetGalley!

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

What do you think you’ll read next!?

The books I am reading for review:

Seeing Ceremony by Meera Ekkanath KleinA Fatal Finale by Kathleen Marple KalbA Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman

Barnes & Noble Classics (Persuasion) Book Photography Credit: Jorie of jorielovesastory.com. Photo edits and collage created in Canva.The London Restoration by Rachel Millan

The Calculating Stars and the Fated Sky duology covers provided by the publisher Tor and are used with permission.The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

  • Seeing Ceremony by Meera Ekkanath Klein
  • A Fatal Finale (Ella Stone Mysteries, Book One) by Kathleen Marple Kalb
  • A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder (Countess Harleigh Mysteries, Book Three) by Dianne Freeman
  • Persuasion by Jane Austen with the new audiobook via NetGalley
  • The London Restoration by Rachel McMillan with the audiobook via NetGalley
  • The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky and The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

I know as soon as I finish reading My Mother’s Kitchen, Seeing Ceremony will be read shortly thereafter as it is a series of stories I have been wanting to read for quite a long while now. Wherein, earlier (today) I was able to post a teaser of a post highlighting the benefits of soaking into the Cosy Gilded Age Mysteries penned by a regular chatter and former guest of #SatBookChat: Ms Kathleen Marple Kalb! This is a story I first received by ARC in the post and then, I found the audiobook via Scribd. However, I am finishing reading the story with the book in my hand and the audiobook in my ears courtesy of my regional library’s CloudLibrary!! I cannot wait to finally see what becomes of this first Ella Shane Mystery as I find her dearly entertaining to spend time with as her life evolves in the theatre with dashes of murder and intrigue!

Concurrently, to reading Ella Shane, I am able to finally dive back into the Countess Harleigh Mysteries by Ms Freeman! My whole attention these past few months has been on personal health and wellness as well as getting through bouts of medical emergencies and situations with my parents; throw in some dangerously severe lightning storms and a handful of severe migraines – I have no idea how I would have read this novel sooner than now! And, that truly bothered me – as I loved reading the first two novels in the series, have hosted Ms Freeman during #SatBookChat and have felt so dearly attached within the world she has created. And, yet,.. I was not able to get into this story during the blog tour nor any moment close to when it concluded. I am hoping I hadn’t disappointed the author with my lack of focus as I truly was thankful I could receive a printed ARC – it is completely circumstantial why I couldn’t read this story and I am grateful my reading focus has returnt to me now to where I can enjoy it in full.

No one was more gobsmacked than Jorie to realise a novel by Jane Austen which is as difficult to warm up to reading as it would be to meet Scoorage has found herself smitten by a narrator whose presenting the novel in a way that both conveys the story but dearly gives Jorie a wicked good listen in the process! Dear hearts, I am referring to Persuasion! The singular novel in which I never thought I’d attach myself (despite everyone telling me I’d love it) and finding with Mike Read’s narration, the story has burst alive for me despite the fact I still find the opening bridge of it a bit muddling still to find the story’s rhythm but I am earnestly hopeful by the time I reach the midway point, I shall feel differently. At least that is my hope? We shall see! I’m going to be spending most of September sorting out my feelings for this novel before I present my review.

When it comes to The London Restoration, this is one audiobook I felt would benefit from having the book in hand to read as I listened to the story. I am uncertain if I was influenced by personal strife and had trouble cordinating the timeline and characters together in of its own or if it due to the lovely layers of intrigue and connections within the opening bits of the novel itself, this particular novel serves itself well to go between both a copy in print and a copy in audio? I’m thankful I could receive a copy in print and as I await its arrival, I am quite eager to resume my listenings of this story which truly left me curious to hear and read. I have happily interviewed the author during the recent blog tour and loved how our conversation organically knit together!

When I received a rather keenly large #bookmail box in the post this past week, I was hoping it might be the Lady Astronauts series — and guess what dear hearts!? It was!! You cannot imagine my wicked glee in finding the three books in that box!! I was overjoyed and estastically full of the wonder of what I find inside the stories!! As soon as I opened the box, I sat with the books, read the Appendixes and immediately found myself drawn into the world of the Lady Astronauts world. I even started to curate the layout for my first review which will be for The Calculating Stars whilst I found the author’s recommended reads alluring to the point I requested a total of 4x ILLs (interlibrary loans) and numerous books locally and one audiobook through my library to read concurrently with the series itself!!

I have had a penchant of interest about Space and AstroPhysics since I was a young girl – I was even in the Young Astronauts Club as a child and being a female astronaut was my first career choice until I realised at the age of 10 at Space Camp I could not handle zero Gs and being in space would not work for me physically. The crushing reality of that moment for me was hard to swallow but I took it as a signal space life wasn’t meant to be my path. Despite that shift away from Space and the Cosmos with a direct connection of interest professionally, I have continued to seek out stories and works of Non-Fiction in subjects and topics of interest which still leave me curious about the world beyond Earth. I watch a lot of Space films and Space Opera is one of my top favourite niches of Science Fiction whilst I am definitely a reader of Hard Sci Fi moreso than Soft.

Peering into this series, from the perspective of a reader who desired to travel past our moons is part of the allure of the series for me but I also have such a healthy appetite for Space Science, it will be interesting to see my own reactions start to knit themselves together out of both the research Ms Kowal used herself and of which I am now reading myself in direct contrast to the books and how the series has evolved. I know a bit about the foundation of the series having read the short story We Interrupt this Broadcast – as all the short stories attached to the Lady Astronaut series are available online – yet, I know this is only the tip of a very large iceberg and I cannot wait to dive straight into the first novel!

A lot of the allure of this was also the fact it is told from a Feminist POV and the fact I loved the film Hidden Figures, I have been wanting to uncover more Feminist History within the world of Space. I cannot wait to see where this series takes me and what my reactions will be therein.

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#SelfPublishedFantasyMonth TBR (the first batch):

The Ghosts of Wonky Inn by Jeannie WycherleyTrans-Continental: Girl in the Gears by E. Chris GarrisonA King's Bargain by JDL Rosell

Portals, Passages, & Pathways by B.R. MaulCycles of Norse Mythology by Glenn Searfoss

[via audiobook]

  • (re-listening) The Ghosts of Wonky Inn, Wonky Inn Book Two by Jeannie Wycherley, narrated by Kim Bretton
  • (re-listening) Trans-Continental: Girl in the Gears by E. Chris Garrison, narrated by Angel Clark

[via print]

When I first listened to The Ghosts of Wonky Inn last year, it arrived at such a perfect time in my readerly life where I needed such a *strong and wicked comedic sequel* to a series I had already fallen over the moon in love with listening too! I never had the chance (despite earnest attempts) to re-listen to this in full in the months since to bring my full ruminations to my readers! I’ve been wanting to re-hear this installment before moving into the third Weird Wedding at Wonky Inn!

Likewise, similar to the Wonky Inn series, I’ve not had the pleasure of re-listening to Trans-Continental: Girl in the Gears after listening to it last year! These two audiobooks were enjoyed within the same timeline and unfortunately for me and for the authors (as much as my readers) I never had the chance to re-listen to this lovely either! I have been wanting to dive back into these stories, to re-acquaint myself with their characters and worlds and find a way to bring my reactions and takeaways to my blog in the form of proper reviews because of how much JOY they gave me as an audiobook listener and as a reader of fantastical worlds! These beauties truly showcase the joy of discovering Self Published Authors of Fantasy and as this is my first year participating in the event, I’m quite thankful to announce I’ll be listening to multiple stories by both E. Chris Garrison and Jeannie Wycherley.

When it comes to The King’s Bargain and Portals, Passages and Pathways – these two novels share a common history with me as a reader as both of the stories were postponed from being read when they first arrived. I’ve been wanting to get back into both of them, and in regards to the latter, its taken me more years than I felt possible but because of my co-hosting of Wyrd And Wonder and my ability to read more Fantasy each year since we began Wyrd And Wonder, I believe I’m in a better position as a reader to read Portals, Passages and Pathways than I might have been previously.

In regards to Cycles of Norse Mythology, this is a story told in different sequences of which I have broken down into reading at different intervals. I released my first review about the stories within this uniquely collected narrative during Wyrd And Wonder this year, which for me was a personal feat of readerly joy. Being in the month of #Mythothon now, I am finding myself re-drawn in both interest and curiosity to resume my readings from whence I had left off. Being free of migraines will also make the re-transition smoothier as this is a heady work of fiction to digest and you definitely do not want to munk round with a migraine whilst trying to peel back the layers of how this story was told as it has deep roots into Norse Mythology whilst it is also at the heart of it a re-telling or a re-envisioning of those original Norse tales.

NOTE: I am particularly focusing on the stories within the series of the Wonky Inn and of the collective works of E. Chris Garrison this #SelfPubFantasyMonth. You’ll see more of these authors peppering my readerly life this month and I cannot wait to share those reactions and takeaways with you! Likewise, I recently highlighted Ms Chris’s works during my recent Top Ten Tuesday featurin #diversestories to celebrate a library’s book drive!

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#Mythothon TBR to be determined!

This year the theme for #Mythothon is CELTIC Mythology and I couldn’t be happier as I’ve long have held an attachment for Celtic Mythologies and Folklore! I have an inkling of what I’ll be reading for this year’s event however I simply haven’t had the proper chance to ink out the official list and work my way through the beautiful lovely prompts Louise @ Foxes Fairytale has created for us to entice our way into the CELTIC readings she hopes her readathon inspires us to discover as we seek out the stories her prompts route us to find.

I’m going to be taking the next week to fine tune my readathon list, pull together my #mustreads and make enroads into getting my tail hugged into the stories before next Wednesday! I am unsure how much of the Celtic stories I’ll be able to read this year, however, I have a hearty girth of Mythological stories waiting my attention and I might break the cycle of how I focus on Mythothon by reading what I have on my shelf vs fetching new stories via my library. Either that, or I’ll spilt it between both goals and see if I can work something out that both honours the theme and focuses on where my attention lies this September. Either way, more stories of Mythos will be arriving on Jorie Loves A Story!!

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Upcoming Blog Tour Reviews in September:

  • A Lock of Hair (audiobook) by A. Rose Pritchett 12th (Sat)
  • Jessie’s Girl (audiobook) by Tara September 19th (Sat)
  • Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish by Bethany Turner (print/audio combined) 20th (Sun)
  • A Ranger for the Twins (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Tanya Agler 23rd (Weds)
  • The Brief and True Report of Temperance Flowerdew by Denise Heinze 28th (Mon)

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I am actually ahead of my schedules this month with my readings and listenings thus far into the early bits of the month. I am hoping to keep a bit ahead of my blog tour dates this month and have the extra joy of reading or hearing these stories a bit ahead of when I need to have my reviews done which would be a lovely luxury as usually I finish my reviews and readings a lot closer to my actual blog tour deadlines! Oy.. such as I have done recently when life turnt quite adverse and affected my listening of Elizabeth: Obsinate Headstrong Girl.

Of these, the two which took me by surprise in different ways were Jessie’s Girl as it was actually available in audiobook for review and The Brief and True Report of Temperance FlowerdewThe latter was a work of Historical Fiction which had such an interesting premise attached to it that I honestly can attest I was smitten at ‘hallo’.

Here let me share what I mean:

Determined to set the historical record straight, and clear her conscience, Temperance Flowerdew — the wife of Virginia’s first two governors — puts quill to paper, recounting the hardships that nearly brought the Jamestown colony to its knees, and the extraordinary sacrifice of her servant girl, Lily.

When she steps aboard the Falcon in 1609, Temperance Flowerdew was not only setting sail from England to the distant shores of America, she was embarking upon a future of opportunity. She didn’t yet know how she would make her mark, but in this new place she could do or be whatever she wanted.

Willing as she is to brave this new world, Temperance is utterly ill-equipped to survive the wilderness; all she knows is how to live inside the pages of adventure and philosophy books. Loyally at her side, Lily helps Temperance weather pioneer life. A young woman running from lifelong accusations of witchcraft, Lily finds friendship with Temperance and an acceptance of her psychic gifts. Together, they forge paths within the community: Temperance attempts to advise the makeshift government, while Lily experiences the blossoming of first love.

But as the harsh winter approaches, Lily intuitively senses a darkness creep over the colony and the veneer of civilized life threatens to fall away — negotiations with the Indians grow increasingly hostile and provisions become scarce. Lily struggles to keep food on the table by foraging in the woods and being resourceful. Famine could mean the end of days. It’s up to Lily to save them both, but what sacrifice will be enough to survive?

A transporting and evocative story, The Brief and True Report of Temperance Flowerdew is a fiercely hopeful novel — a portrait of two intrepid women who choose to live out their dreams of a future more free than the past.

Now don’t you agree? I was so intrigued by this story I was quite thankful to learn I made the blog tour and could read it so soon after having discovered it. And, that is the one blessing of hosting blog tours for me – as I’ve been dancing through genres known and unknown as much as the historic past (through Historical Fiction) for the past seven years – finding myself attracted to new styles of story and new eras of History alike. This particular one felt like a story that befit my pursuit of Feminist Historical Fiction as much as I felt the character herself was reaching out to tell me I needed to read her story and I needed to read it NOW.

And, I LOVE when that happens!

Don’t you?

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on my selections!

Did anything tempt you to pick up yourself?

OR have you read one of these already?

What are you currently reading?!

Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission.

{SOURCES: All cover art were originally provided to be used to showcase and promote the stories on my blog via their blog tour companies, publicists, authors and/or publishers and were encouraged to be talked about after my reviews were shared. Cover Art for “Rescuing the Rancher”, “Alaskan Dreams”, “After the Rodeo”, “A Bridge Home”, “Kingdom Above the Cloud” and “Ready to Trust” were provided by Prism Book Tours and are used with permission. Cover Art for “My Mother’s Kitchen” and “Seeing Ceremony” were provided by Meera Ekkanath Klein and are used with permission. Cover Art for “Elizabeth: Ostinate Headstrong Girl” were provided by Christina Boyd and is used with permission. Cover Art for “Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish”, “Never Let Go” and “Yours Truly, Thomas” were provided by Baker Publishing and are used with permission. Cover Art for “When He Found Me” and “A Gift to Cherish” were provided by Victoria Bylin and are used with permission. Cover Art for “Josette” and “His Daughter’s Prayer” were provided by Danielle Thorne and are used with permission. Cover Art for “Kings and Daemons” and “A King’s Bargain” were provided by Storytellers on Tour and is used with permission. Cover Art for “The River Jewel”, “The London Restoration” and “The Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder” as well as the synopsis for “The Brief and True Report of Temperance Flowerdew” were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and is used with permission. Cover Art for “A Fatal Finale” was provided by Kathleen Marple Kalb and is used with permission. Cover Art for “My Life in Plants” was provided by the publisher via NetGalley and is used with permission. Cover Art for “The Calculating Stars”, “The Fated Sky” and “The Relentless Moon” were provided by the publisher Tor and is used with permission. Cover Art for “The Ghosts of Wonky Inn” was provided by Jeannie Wycherley and is used with permission. Cover Art for “Trans-Continental: Girl in the Gears” was provided by E. Chris Garrison and is used with permission. Cover Art for “Portals, Passages and Pathways” was provided by JKS Communications and is used with permission. Cover Art for “Cycles of Norse Norse Mythology” was provided by Glenn Searfoss and is used with permission. Magnolia Storms & Persuasion novel Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com. Rainbow Digital Clip Art Washi Tape made by The Paper Pegasus. Purchased on Etsy by Jorie and used with permission. Post dividers provided by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #WWWWednesdays Meme Banner, the Magnolia Storms blog graphic (Magnolia Storms novel Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com), the Persuasion blog graphic (Persuasion novel Photography Credit: © jorielovesastory.com) and the Comment Box banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.

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About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Wednesday, 9 September, 2020 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Discussions, WWW Wednesdays




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2 responses to “#WWWWednesdays No.12: On how Jorie found readerly inspiration during the Christian Fiction Reading Safari and restored her readerly life!

    • Hallo, Hallo Peyton,

      So thankful you’ve decided to give the Trans-Con series a bit of go after seeing it for the second time round! I’ll be sharing more about this story before the close of September. I am slightly behind on my readings from last week – courtesy of life and its tides as well as a naughty migraine. Decided best to rest and spend time offline and then get back into reading this week instead. I’ll delay updating my WWW til next week, however, before then I am hoping to have my review live for ‘Girl in the Gears’. I’ll be sure to tag you once it goes live as I hope it will give you more of a feel for what you’ll find inside the series.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. I love finding your notes awaiting me.

      PS: I baked scones perfectly for the first time today and am quite chuffed as Mum and I were quite excited how the first batch turnt out! I’ve also been devouring the 7th Cycle of Best British Bake-Off and am wicked thrilled for the baker whose taken top baker 3x in a row! (Steph)

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