Category: 21st Century

Blog Book Tour | “ergon” by George HS Singer #poetry collection

Posted Wednesday, 12 October, 2016 by jorielov ergon, George HS Singer, Wordtech Communications, WordTech Editions 1 Comment

Acquired Book By: I was selected to review “ergon” by Poetic Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of “ergon” direct from the author George HS Singer in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

ergon
Source: Publisher via Poetic Book Tours

George Singer’s Ergon is precise, delicate and fierce in its engagement with the world.

George HS Singer, a former Buddhist monk, has written a debut collection of poems about his life as a monk and in the monastery and about his life when he left to marry and have a family. As he tries to balance his spiritual principles with every day life as a husband and father, these poems utilize nature as a backdrop for his quest.

Genres: Poetry & Drama

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781625491923

Published by Wordtech Editions

on 18th June, 2016

Format: Paperback Edition

Pages: 88

Published By: WordTech Editions an imprint of WordTech Communications

Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #Poetry

Posted Wednesday, 12 October, 2016 by jorielov in 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Indie Author, Modern Day, Poetic Book Tours, Poetry, Vulgarity in Literature

Cover Reveal | NEW #ChocLit holiday novel by Kathryn Freeman “A Second Christmas Wish”!

Posted Tuesday, 4 October, 2016 by jorielov A Second Christmas Wish, ChocLitUK, Kathryn Freeman 1 Comment

If your a regular reader or frequent visitor of Jorie Loves A Story, you know I’ve been smitten with the novelists who publish their relationship-based Romances with ChocLitUK for a good two years now! I love being on the cusp of learning about a ‘new release’ whilst I remain patient to see if the Digital First new ChocLit novel will make it to a print release further down the road of it’s lifetime. I don’t mind the gaps between the ebooks and the print editions – as it’s always given me the pleasure of balancing my ‘next ChocLit reads’ to include both Front List and Back List offerings. Thus, I am enjoying being a member of the Reveal Team at ChocLit whilst it gives me a chance to introduce my readers to a variety of sub-genres within Romance I appreciate picking up to read!

As you might have noticed, I have become an appreciator of reading Ms Freeman’s stories, ever since I happily released my review on behalf of her Pharma Industry Contemporary Rom Search for the Truth! It is with pleasure of joy finding that she has a second release I can happily celebrate this year, right in time for Christmas! I have a particular interest in holiday stories because I love being caught up in the joy of the Christmas season whilst tucking inside a light Rom or a holiday setting wherein you get to find people not expecting anything out of the ordinary to enter their lives, but sometimes have the best blessing of all arrive just in time for Christmas!

I wasn’t sure how I felt this year about reading holiday stories ahead of November, as I have a few in queue right now, as well as my first colouring books – I have the tendency to wait until I can feel the spirit of the holidays approaching, where I feel the Seasons have blessedly switched ‘over’ to something ‘other than’ Summer and have caught sight of that shifting towards where the year starts to fold anew into a new chapter. Sometimes reading is atmospheric and sometimes there is a season of awareness for the stories we love to read as well. I recently blogged how sometimes stories are too emotionally triggered to the negative, but in regards to Christmas stories, I find myself properly enchanted by them personally! I just have the tendency to get into the readerly mood for them the weeks ahead of Thanksgiving straight through the first fortnight of January! Not always, as I do surprise myself like most readers – even as October took it’s peek into view, I started to notice, hmm, perhaps I might duck inside one ahead of Halloween this year? How unusual for me!

When this ChocLit Stars project came along, I was most enthused as I had previously celebrated the print releases of Ms Alison May’s Christmas novellas – as when it comes to ChocLit and Christmas, I am unfortunately a bit under-read! I do appreciate their annual ChocLit Treats – those delish little morsels of Romance arriving by your email Inbox, which dance and pepper your holidays with little dashes of fiction so lovingly adorable and keenly enjoyable! Perhaps this is the year, I can select some ChocLit Christmas Roms to soak inside and take stock of how the authors enjoy celebrating one of my most beloved times of the year!

I do wonder, what is your most favourite bit of reading holiday stories? Do you have a certain ‘start date’ or do you enjoy reading them year round? I must confess, I find it hard to attach into a Christmas story between Spring and Summer, but this year, I’m finding October is bringing Autumn joys a bit earlier than usual and thereby, I’m re-inspired to try to read one early!

Posted Tuesday, 4 October, 2016 by jorielov in 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Book Spotlight, ChocLitUK, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Modern Day, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love

Blog Book Tour | “Reclamation” (duology) by Adrienne Quintana The continuing saga of Jace Vega started inside the page-turner “ERUPTION”!

Posted Friday, 23 September, 2016 by jorielov Adrienne Quintana, Eruption, Eruption duology, Pink Umbrella Books, Reclamation 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: Originally my path crossed with Ms Quintana whilst I participated on the blog tour (via Cedar Fort Publishing & Media) for her debut novel “Eruption” wherein I found a compelling and tightly written technothriller with a heap of heart and suspense! After the blog tour, the author and I kept in touch as I was most curious about a potential sequel and I had hoped to feature her on my blog with an interview. Fast forward, Ms Quintana has since established her own publishing company (Pink Umbrella Books) and invited me to join the excitement of her duology sequel “Reclamation”. Quite overjoyed to learn what became of Jace Vega, I instantly agreed!

I received a complimentary copy of “Reclamation” direct from the publisher Pink Umbrella Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I loved reading ERUPTION:

Quintana breathes life into her novel within the first few pages of Eruption grounding the reader askance Jace as she goes about her routine to envelope herself inside her run; blocking out the world and the absence of memory from her dreams. It is an internal check-balance of seeing Jace from the moment she awakens to how she likes to stablise her life with routine. This is a girl who is adamant about routine and having a ‘neat and tidy approach to living’ wherein she would not grow surprised by any event, incident, or moment arriving up out of the blue! Not that that is characteristic of life but you can gather a sense of her character’s intentions through the anguish she feels on the death of her Mum. There is only a slight reference to this, but Quintana is a writer who can give depth to a few words; evoking a strong reaction out of her reader and characters alike.

Jace is at the apex of suspending her world between her current reality and the reality of how the future is intersecting with her present. The curious bit for me is how her present self is having trouble processing the future, as she’s approaching it from a rational point of view vindictive of someone who accepts plausible science fiction stories but hasn’t taken her belief to the point where she can fathom how ‘real’ science fiction scenarios can bleed into your own reality.

Eruption proves that you can formulate a new bridge between where techno-thrillers can merge quite beautifully with a time travel narrative arc, and this is a credit to Quintana whose given us a debut novel that entices you to seek out the continuing chapters inside this duology! Quintana included ‘just enough’ current events and tidbits of our modern 21st Century to encourage a balance of ‘when’ and ‘where’ the story takes place whilst providing a backdrop that we can instantly relate too as we read her debut. It was quasi-political without being a complete politico novel!

-quoted from my review of ERUPTION

Reclamation
Subtitle: Foreknowledge is power
by Adrienne Quintana
Source: Direct from Publisher

Sequel to Eruption, A Technothriller Exploring the Power of Foreknowledge and the Dangers of Technology Dependence.

When Jace Vega wakes up three years after the eruption of Mount Hood, her life is in turmoil. The future seems to match the images on the tablet, but Corey is missing, and nothing about her relationship with Damien feels right.

As Victor Trent continues to amass power, using information terrorism to make the world dependent on Omnibus technology and his private military force, Omnibus Global Security, Jace knows she doesn’t have much time if she’s going to stop him.

Jace’s reawakening begins a race to the place where it all began: the Point of Origin.
If she can only remember where it is.

Genres: Science Fiction, Techno-Thriller, Time Travel Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781523772148

Also by this author: Eruption

Series: Eruption Duology

Also in this series: Eruption

Published by Pink Umbrella Books

on 13th September, 2016

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 295

Published By: Pink Umbrella Books (@PinkUmbrellaBks)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse on Twitter via: #EruptionDuology, #ReclamationBook

About Adrienne Quintana

Adrienne Quintana is the second of nine children born to professional oil artist, John Horejs, and his wife and business partner, Elaine. She spent her early years playing on the banks of the Snake River in southern Idaho while her father built a geodesic dome house. When the family wasn’t traveling around the country to art shows, Adrienne spent many happy hours reading in her unfinished, tent-like bedroom. Love of reading soon blossomed into a desire to write. If the family’s antiquated computer could be resurrected, a collection of short stories involving local characters and their epic battles with fire-breathing dragons would be sure to entertain.

After completing high school via correspondence, Adrienne studied Music Education at Mesa Community College. She took an 18 month break to serve a church mission in Montreal, Canada, where she gained invaluable life experiences and a few pounds from the local delicacies. After the completion of her mission and a month abroad in Europe, Adrienne moved to Utah with the intention of continuing her education at Brigham Young University, but these plans were short-lived when she met her husband-to-be while working at an investment company. Soon after their marriage, the Quintanas packed up and moved to Minnesota, where Adrienne worked while her husband earned a Law degree.

After four children and a move to Arizona, Adrienne completed her Bachelors of Science and Communication at the University of Phoenix. In the throes of housekeeping, potty-training, and carpooling, Adrienne discovered that she could find time to accomplish her goals—often in the quiet hours after the children were in bed. Since her graduation in 2012, those quiet moments have been used to fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a writer.

on re-aligning into the mind Of Jace:

I posted my review of ERUPTION on the 31st of January, 2015 and this September, 2016 I re-read the story in order to better re-align myself inside the mind of Jace Vega!

Memory is both elusive and ironic – I remember the feeling of urgency when I first read ERUPTION. The irony is that I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime since I read this story – yet it was only one year and nine months ago! I’d equae that to how I felt picking up The Clan Chronicles after nine months! There are moments where we place our memories on pause – especially those attached to stories, to the lives of characters we connect too – and then, someone encourages us to resume where we had left off.

I felt like Jace – I knew I had read these opening sentences where we find her jogging ahead of her work hours in the morning but it wasn’t until she reached for the discarded tablet that the pieces of her story started to ‘re-align’. Similar as said to the Clan – memories you etch into your heart, leave imprinted data and blessedly we can return to where we were originally. Yet, sometimes I like to humour my curiosity and re-read the familiar yet not altogether remember the passages before resuming a series or in this case a duology (two stories anchoured and aligned together). Jace in ERUPTION felt intense waves of deja vu where she would automatically feel as if she were re-living sequences of her everyday life and/or that portion of her life was bleeding into the future or the future was blending into her present, depending on how you perceived her story as it unfolded. Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#FuellYourSciFi

Posted Friday, 23 September, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Indie Author, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Modern Day, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Young Adult Fiction

Book Review | “Search for the Truth” by Kathryn Freeman #ChocLitSaturdays

Posted Saturday, 17 September, 2016 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Kathryn Freeman, Search for the Truth 2 Comments

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

I am always seeking relationship-based romance which strikes a chord within my mind’s eye as well as my heart! I’m a romantic optimist, and I love curling into a romance where I can be swept inside the past, as history becomes lit alive in the fullness of the narrative and I can wander amongst the supporting cast observing the principal characters fall in love and sort out if they are a proper match for each other!

I love how an Indie Publisher like ChocLitUK is such a positive alternative for those of us who do not identify ourselves as girls and women who read ‘chick-lit’. I appreciate the stories which alight in my hands from ChocLit as much as I appreciate the inspirational romances I gravitate towards because there is a certain level of depth to both outlets in romance which encourage my spirits and gives me a beautiful story to absorb! Whilst sorting out how promote my book reviews on behalf of ChocLit, I coined the phrase “ChocLitSaturdays”, which is a nod to the fact my ChocLit reviews & features debut on ‘a Saturday’ but further to the point that on the ‘weekend’ we want to dip into a world wholly ideal and romantic during our hours off from the work week!

Acquired Book By: I am a regular reviewer for ChocLitUK, where I hand select which books in either their backlist and/or current releases I would like to read next for my #ChocLitSaturdays blog feature. As of June 2016, I became a member of the ChocLit Stars Team in tandem with being on the Cover Reveal Team which I joined in May 2016. I reference the Stars as this is a lovely new reader contribution team of sending feedback to the publisher ahead of new book releases. As always, even if I’m involved with a publisher in this sort of fashion, each review is never influenced by that participation and will always be my honest impression as I read the story. Whether the author is one I have previously read or never had the pleasure to read until the book greets my shelf.

I received a complimentary copy of “Search for the Truth” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein. I previously had the joy of celebrating the Cover Reveal for this novel and I was most happy I could finally read the story!

Why I was so very keen on reading this Contemporary!

My best friend from high school went into the Pharmacy Industry, and coincidentally we reconnected after a long search to find each other again whilst she was at the latter stage of graduating as a pharmacist. I still remember our long conversations on the phone about the particulars of what was involved with her studies and how her impression of pharmacy had changed since before she started her studies; as the industry wasn’t quite what she imagined it was to be. I could sympathise as sometimes our initial impressions about something does not match or hold up against further enquiries and research. I oft think about her as she has a demanding schedule of hours and responsibilities, I had hoped might have calmed down after her last promotion.

Even before we reconnected and I knew of her path, I sometimes have found myself intrigued to find stories of women who are working inside this field, as the last time I connected to a story, it was through an indie film starring Katherine Heigl (Side Effects | info on Wikipedia). What I appreciated about Search for the Truth is how it digs into the gritty realities of what is being created and how what is being created may or may not be conducive to keeping a Pharma company on the right side of ‘first do no harm’. I felt seeing how Freeman layered the story whilst building the relationship tension at the same time would prove to be a wicked good read, as it would be anchoured in the reality of an industry few write about and grounded by how life evolves out of ordinary hours. A good time to percolate drama and convincing situations where hard choices would surely need to be made!

I like reading romantic dramas sometimes over romantic comedies, because they dig into the harder issues and they takeaway a part of humanity that might always be cut clear and crystal; there are different ways to approach the stories, and seeing how a writer will make choices for her characters but also for her evolving story of intrigue is what holds me to the pages. I am quite eager to see this going into print (hopefully next year!) so that I can see how Tess finds her mission to uncover the truth might not be as easy to do as she first suspected it could be. The title alone points to the plausible path of finding that truth and supposition can be blinding.

-quoted from my Cover Reveal post for Search for the Truth

Search for the Truth
by Kathryn Freeman
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Berni Stevens
Source: Direct from Publisher

Sometimes the truth hurts…

When journalist Tess Johnson takes a job at Helix pharmaceuticals, she has a very specific motive. Tess has reason to believe the company are knowingly producing a potentially harmful drug and, if her suspicions are confirmed, she will stop at nothing to make sure the truth comes out.

Jim Knight is the president of research and development at Helix and is a force to be reckoned with. After a disastrous office affair he’s determined that nothing else will distract him from his vision for the company. Failure is simply not an option. As Tess and Jim start working together, both have their reasons for wanting to ignore the sexual chemistry that fires between them. But chemistry, like most things in the world of science, isn’t always easy to control.

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Realistic Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Book Page on ChocLitUK

ISBN: 9781781893029

Also by this author: Search for the Truth Cover Reveal, Before You Cover Reveal, A Second Christmas Wish Cover Reveal, Before You, A Second Christmas Wish

Published by ChocLitUK

on 7th July, 2016

Format: Paperback Edition

Pages: 288

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLitUK)

Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Genre(s): Contemporary | BigPharma | Suspense | Corporate Espionage

Converse via: #ChocLit

About Kathryn Freeman

Kathryn was born in Wallingford, England but has spent most of her life living in a village near Windsor. After studying pharmacy in Brighton she began her working life as a retail pharmacist. She quickly realised that trying to decipher doctor’s handwriting wasn’t for her and left to join the pharmaceutical industry where she spent twenty happy years working in medical communications. In 2011, backed by her family, she left the world of pharmaceutical science to begin life as a self-employed writer, juggling the two disciplines of medical writing and romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero…

With two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to bother buying a card again this year (yes, he does) the romance in her life is all in her head. Then again, her husband’s unstinting support of her career change goes to prove that love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes can come in many disguises.

Posted Saturday, 17 September, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, British Literature, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Espionage, Indie Author, Modern British Author, Modern British Literature, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Vulgarity in Literature

Author Interview | Alyson Peterson talks about her #YALit series “Ian Quicksilver” as the sequel releases this September “The Cursed Dagger”.

Posted Wednesday, 14 September, 2016 by jorielov Alyson Peterson, Cedar Fort Inc, Ian Quicksilver, Ian Quicksilver series, Sweetwater Books, The Cursed Dagger 0 Comments

My connection to the author: Last year, I had a conversation with Ms Peterson whilst I was composing my thoughts on my review but it did not influence my reaction and/or change my honest opinion of the novel; something I disclosed at the top of my review for ‘Ian Quicksilver: The Warrior’s Return’. Since then, I’ve only touched based with the author off and on a few times in the interim, as we’re connected through Twitter. It’s always nice to keep in touch with an author you appreciate reading but also a renewed joy if you make a personal connection too. I am thankful my path crossed with Ms Peterson on the tour last year, and for the private conversations we’ve exchanged.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Peterson through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse as well as privately; 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. Similarly this applies to all future novels I read by an author I appreciate reading due to the compelling story-lines and characters they continuously bring to their novels and/or novellas.

On returning to the world of Quicksilver:

I must admit, my return to the world of Quicksilver did not quite go as I had anticipated as I personally found myself unable to finish reading the story once I reached Chapter 15 and a few pages forward when the ‘cursed dagger’ is revealled. There is an invisible boundary for all of us as readers – I happen to delve into most of what concerns me as a reader on my Review Policy whilst remaining open to stories as a reader who does consistently push herself out of her comfort zones to entertain new authors and new styles of the writer’s craft – where story-telling can become uniquely original and individual.

Having said that, for me, I have been a sensitive reader since I was a young girl – this hasn’t changed as I’ve transitioned into an adult reader. There will always be those stories that I have such an itch and thirst to read that are going to disappoint me – either by tone or by inclusion of elements that I personally consider outside the boundaries of where I want to be taken visually, metaphorically and fictionally. We all have those key triggers where sometimes literature is just taken too far for us to personally enjoy what is left behind for us to find. This sadly was the case for me when I read The Cursed Dagger, as outlined on my review.

I respect the author reaching out to me after I posted my review, including being open with me about what inspired Ian Quicksilver as a character and as a series for Young Adults, but even after knowing the back-story which is not disclosed in the books themselves, I cannot return where I left the book itself. You see, for me, it was physically nauseating to read those passages – I honestly was so struck by shock, that I physically reacted and emotionally I honestly felt crushed. These were characters I had loved in the first novel and were grieved by what was happening in the sequel. Visually, I simply did not have the stomach to see what was coming next because there is this particular moment where Ian is attacked and it is that that point where I had to turn away from the book! I was so shaken by that scene and everything else I had mentioned on my review, that for me, it was too much to process.

I approach Young Adult Lit from a unique perspective – I originally started to read Young Adult and Middle Grade novels to inspire stories for my nieces and nephews to read themselves. Somewhere in the pursuit of that goal, I ended up falling back in love with these beautifully lovely sections of literature myself. So much so, I fully recaptured my own bookish joy and readerly innocence that I had as an 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old. I love internalising a story written for children as an adult whose childhood is very much still a part of her heart and spirit. I love to see the stories I will one day be recommending for my own future children whilst picking up where I left off with my own readings as well.

The exit I am having with the Quicksilver series was something that blindsided me – it truly was a series I loved reading last year, but this year, I had to let it go. It will find flight to other readers who may not be as sensitive to certain inclusions of scenes and incidents as I am. That’s okay. We all like different stories from one another. We’d be very boring as readers to love all the stories that reach our hands, hearts and imaginations. There will be a piece of Ari and Ian that remain with me – I fondly remember what it was like to meet them originally and I have 14 chapters of the sequel where I was walking beside them, rallying behind them and hoping they would overcome their new adversities.

Prior to reaching Chapter 15, I composed this interview. I yielded to the author if she still wanted me to run it as part of the tour as I know authors react differently to different reviews, especially if a prior reader who cherished their book(s) had to discontinue reading successive editions. Ms Peterson accepted my honesty and the ruminations I’ve left behind to explain what happened in the midst of my readings whilst giving me this conversation to share with you. For those of you on the Quicksilver blog tour, I know you will especially enjoy it as she hints towards what is coming up next in books three and four! For those of you arriving outside of the tour, may this be a book you will enjoy as it’s now one of the books I’ve met that is seeking love from other readers!

One note: for me I felt this as a despotic world due to how heavy the darker lines were drawn around Puckerbush; for me this is what Dystopia would feel and look like where most of the light and hope of the world is blinked out of sight. There are a few streaks of it left, but for the most part it’s a harsher environment and the conditions of the towne just felt Dystopic to me.

Posted Wednesday, 14 September, 2016 by jorielov in 21st Century, Action & Adventure Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Bullies and the Bullied, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Coming-Of Age, Fantasy Fiction, Foster Care, Humour & Satire in Fiction / Non Fiction, Indie Author, Life Shift, Modern Day, Orphans & Guardians, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Science Fantasy, Small Towne USA, Supernatural Fiction, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction