Category: Book Cover Reveal

An #EnterTheFantastic Cover Reveal w/ Notes | A new voice in #dragonfiction has created “Under the Lesser Moon” by Indie Publisher Mythos and Ink!

Posted Friday, 21 August, 2020 by jorielov Mythos and Ink Publishing, Shelly Campbell, Under the Lesser Moon 4 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

By now, you will realise how smitten I am with dragons as this is a favourite topic of mine – except to say, you also know I’m a discerning reader of #dragonfiction wherein I am quite particularly particular about the kinds of *dragon stories!* I will read. So far, lightning has only struck twice to where I have found myself so wholly enthused and wondrously enthralled by a series involving dragons and their societies wherein their worlds were brilliantly realised by their writers to where it heightened my own interpretation of their world through my mind’s eye. Honestly… after reading a glimpse into this new world… I felt redeemed a bit more because I always feel like I’m in the minority about the kinds of dragon stories I love to read.

I have only previously found two series and authors who write #dragonfiction in a style of narrative and scope of their world which resonates with me as a reader. Those authors are Jackie Gamber with her Leland Dragons series and Elizabeth Foster with her Esme’s Wish series both published by fellow Indie Publishers (Seventh Star Press, Odyssey Books). These are the kinds of dragon stories which lift my bookish soul to new heights in Fantasy because of how the authors have developed their worlds!!

Despite my longer journey into the world of Dragon Fiction and the many different routes of discovery I undertake to find dragons agreeable to me as a reader (ie. I am not an appreciator of the evil dragons and/or dragon fiction which is explicitly violent or bent towards the darker side of a dragon world; I can take adversity but leave some Light to permeate the Darkness!) – I am quite often wholly surprised when I uncover a ‘new’ story which features ‘dragons’.

The last time this happened was during #WyrdAndWonder (@WyrdAndWonder) this past May, 2020 as we celebrated our 3rd Year co-hosting this lovely fantastical book blogosphere, booktube, book Twitter and bookstagram event which also has some followers on Litsy and other routes of social bookish communities. My co-hosts Imyril @ Always Room for One More and Lisa @ Dear Geek Place are as passionate as I am about Fantasy (as a genre, as an expression of music or art; as style of fashion or a niche of the gaming world; to name a few entries of fantastical realms) and I have the tendency to take the Indie route of highlighting authors who are publishing their fantastical stories by Indie Publishers. This past May, I had the pleasure of hosting a series of features by Odyssey Books – this August, it is my pleasure to introduce you to *Mythos and Ink Publishing* of whom is equally as new to be discovered as an authoritative voice in Speculative Fiction.

I hope my excitement for having discovered a new Indie publisher *and!* a new dragon fiction author will whet the thirst of interest from my Wyrd And Wonder community as well as those readers and book bloggers who follow me who share my passion for the fantastical realms!

Without further adieu, here is today’s featured release,…

Posted Friday, 21 August, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Dragon Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, Indie Author, Mythos and Ink Publishing

#WaitingOnWednesday No.9 | featuring the Murder Will Follow #CosyMystery series by Vivian Conroy!

Posted Wednesday, 12 February, 2020 by jorielov (Narrator) Gordon Griffin, An Exhibition of Murder, Canelo, Murder Will Follow Mysteries, Vivian Conroy 0 Comments

a word about ‘waiting on Wednesday’:

I have decided to start participating in this book blogsphere meme with a few small changes of how it’s regularly blogged about by my fellow book bloggers. I will either be introducing my current reads of upcoming releases as I am in the process of reading them and/or I might be releasing a book review about a forthcoming title by which I had been blessed to read ahead of publication. The main purpose behind the meme is to encourage readers and your fellow book bloggers to become aware of new books being released which caught your eye and which held your interest to read. Sometimes if your still in the process of reading the books, its the titles which encouraged your bookish heart. I look forward to spending the next seasons of the year, talking about the books I have on hand to read, the books I’ve been reading and the books I might not even have a copy to read but which are of wicked sweet interest to become a #nextread of mine.

Today I am linking with Can’t Wait Wednesday via Wishful Endings!

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As you might have inferred by my JOY in having Vivian Conroy visiting with my chatters during @SatBookChat last year (see #SatBookChat’s archives – One & Two) and how much I *loved!* reading her Cosy Historical Mystery “The Butterfly Conspiracy” (see also Review) – it will not come as a surprise how much I have been wanting to start listening to her Murder Will Follow Cosy Mystery series! This is her Digital First book series released by Canelo I’ve been wanting to dig inside ever since we first crossed paths on #bookTwitter and became united through the #bookcommunity we both frequent therein.

This is why this morning I have a special announcement to make in regards to the Murder Will Follow series as the fourth novel will release this forthcoming March – making me grateful she reached out to me to help host (and there are several other book bloggers hosting today as well!) her Cover Reveal! Being a part of her Cover Reveal Team also helped me re-seek out this series – to see where the audiobooks are available and I have the delightful news in sharing I found the first two novels are already being featured on #Scribd! How wicked lovely is that?! I’ll be returning to #Scribd in March and I am going to be happily listening to the first novel “A Testament to Murder” when I do!

On my connection to Vivian Conroy:

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

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

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

Ooh, I nearly forgot – as I have been actively requesting Ms Conroy’s collective works at my local & regional libraries (as one encourages print & the other encourages audio requests) – I put in a new request for the very first installment of the #MurderWillFollowMysteries in audiobook – they graciously accepted my last request for her Stationery Shop Mysteries (“Last Pen Standing”) and I am hopeful they can source “A Testament to Murder”. Otherwise my plans to listen to this lovely via #Scribd is right on track for Spring!

Speaking of my past two purchase requests – “Last Pen Standing” has been such a hit with other patrons I’ve not been able to get it back yet to listen to myself and “A Valentine Proposal” is still in processing which means I am unsure if I will have it in my hands to read ahead of St Valentine’s Day despite having requested it in January! This series Little Shops on Heart Street are under her Viv Royce pen name and are published via Entangled Publishing.

Before I share my first thoughts & reactions to the audiobooks themselves (via their samplers provided by #Scribd) I want to reveal the Cover we’re all wicked thrilled to be sharing on our social & blog spaces today – help us celebrate and spread the word to your fellow Cosy Mystery enthusiasts in your life! Don’t forget to let me know why you love reading these lovelies yourself!

Posted Wednesday, 12 February, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Cover Reveal, Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Scribd, Waiting on Wednesday

Cover Reveal w/ Notes | “A Modest Independence” (Parish Orphans of Devon, Book Two) by Mimi Matthews

Posted Thursday, 7 February, 2019 by jorielov A Modest Independence, Mimi Matthews, Parish Orphans of Devon series, Perfectly Proper Press 4 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am unsure if you saw my admiration for “A Holiday in Gaslight” in recent months via the twitterverse, but everyone I know in the bookish world had the lovely chance to read this recently and I was caught up in the excitement myself! This was the first time I realised the collective works of this Historical novelist was one I hadn’t had the proper chance to explore or become acquainted with personally – which is why I am hoping to seek out “A Holiday in Gaslight” through my local library this year. I had meant to submit a purchase request in December for the story however, with a five week virus and three migraines afterwards in January, you could say that plan was postponed!

I vaguely remember seeing the blog tour and reviews on behalf of the first novel in this series “The Matrimonial Advertisement” – it was a story which at the time I wanted to seek out a bit more about but as life moved forward, it simply disappeared from my radar until now. This is why I was thankful I saw my bookish friends and fellow book bloggers excitedly discussing “A Holiday in Gaslight” as it brought the focus back to Mimi Matthews and gave me a new curiosity for her series of Historical narratives!

I am delighted today to be a part of the Cover Reveal Team via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours – as I love promoting, celebrating and championing works of Historical Fiction (across all sub-genres of interest) with Ms Bruno as she truly has a knack for giving those of us who love time travelling through the historic past a keen edge on modern Historical Fiction. It has been through hosting with her these past five (nearly six years) I’ve become enchanted, delighted and wickedly engaged with History.

Although this appears to be a Digital First release – I am confident a print release will be forthcoming as the rest of Ms Matthews stories are cross-released into other formats. As you might already realise, I can’t read ebooks due to my chronic migraines but I love celebrating new stories, even if they are Digital First releases as the promise of a print copy down the road is what encourages my bookish heart to realise one day, I can discover the stories I wish to be reading today.

Thankfully, two of her previous releases “The Lost Letter” and “The Viscount and the Vicar’s Daughter” are available in audiobook editions via Scribd. As I am a subscriber to Scribd for audiobooks, I’m looking forward to listening to these stories this year.

As you know, I love Feminist Historical Fiction narratives inasmuch as I love adventurous romantic fiction. This particular series seems to combine both of my loves and I can’t wait to start to dig into “A Matrimonial Advertisement” in order to understand what is coming next in today’s spotlighted new release!

If you are a reader of Ms Matthews stories, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this Spring Release but also, what has given you the most joy about reading her collective works!

Without further adieu, here is today’s featured release,…

Posted Thursday, 7 February, 2019 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Romance Fiction

Cover Reveal w/ Notes | “After the Rain” by Brandy Bruce the sequel to “The Last Summer” which I loved reading this past July!

Posted Tuesday, 4 December, 2018 by jorielov After the Rain, Brandy Bruce, Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, The Last Summer 2 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

felt like an early #blogmas to me when I first learnt this novel I loved reading during the Summer has a sequel coming out soon! Remember when I read “The Last Summer”?

These are the very first words we read within the pages of The Last Summer, which set the tone for the novel and for what your expecting to find inside the story. You immediately feel comfortable around Addison, Sam, Luke, Lily, Jason, Debra and Sara. I credit this directly to how Ms Bruce fused her heart into the story-line, as the opening bridge has such a strong visceral anchouring to it, it’s hard not to feel as if you’ve become part of this close-knit circle of friends yourself!

They have the kind of familial relationship you might have hoped to have sought out yourself, though in reality forging friendships like these is not as simple as it would seem. Anyone whose attempted to make a fresh start in a new community knows how hard it is to ‘break-in’ if there is a niche already established between friends’ who have known each other for years. In many ways, I was both thankful to see Sara embraced and slightly questioning how plausible it really would be for that to happen as by my own experiences, it is beyond rare. For the sake of the story, I decided to suspend reality and embrace the moment, as what Sara had stumbled into is something everyone hopes to find for themselves and for that reason alone, I was hooked into reading her story!

The realistic manner of feeling enveloped by the emotional anguish is fittingly honest – these kinds of relationships are murky on the outset, as there are no clear definitions on either side – especially if someone along the way chooses to realise their feelings have changed from idle friendship to romance – how is it best handled to explain that to the other person? The quagmire of course is sorting this out whilst realising the person of your affection has started to move on without you – choosing someone who isn’t you and where does that leave you in the end?

In the background of the story, as this hinges quite heavily on the lives of seven friends, is an interesting mother-daughter relationship. One which surprised me at first, as being that Sara is an only child, I thought I could relate to her a bit more than I did. For starters, I was a bit surprised by how she viewed her relationship with her parents but moreso, how she viewed her connection to her mother. In the end, the only thing I shared in common with Sara is the fact we’re onlys as nothing else related to my life except for that one fact. For Sara, she had issues realising how much alike she was to her mother (which reminded me of the relationship with my Aunt and my grandmother; two peas in a pod and yet they were at odds with each other all the time!) to the brink they both harboured certain secrets in their lives. For Sara, the hardest part for her to reconcile is the fact her mother didn’t like to share the bits of herself which would leave her vulnerable – she’d rather create this exterior barrier against the world which showed her greatest strengths rather than focused on her weaknesses. Sara would have benefited from those lessons – of how to rise out of the ashes of where life hurts us the most but for Sara’s mother, those were the moments she couldn’t easily find a way to re-share without re-opening the wounds which were now healed.

There is a wonderful ease of narrative within the Contemporary styling of Brandy Bruce – you can tell she’s spent a considerable amount of time discovering her characters – not just how they reflect on their lives but how they interact as a family unit. They come alive on paper as true as if they were standing next to you – each with their own quirks and faults, ready to be seen as they are and accepted as we find them. One of the things I love about her signature style is how she tucks us so comfortably into the lives of her characters – she lets us feel as if we’ve spent a few hours getting to know them either through a journal of their lives up to this point or had a conversation with someone who knows the seven as well as Ms Bruce. The conversational style is also keen, as it grants you easy access to better understand where each character is emotionally and on which crossroads of change each character is on the brink of either embracing or choosing to walk down.

Ms Bruce openly shows what it is like to have your emotions pulled straight out of you at a time in your life where you felt you had more worked out than how it appeared on the surface. She also pulls together the faith lives of her characters by organically showing how their faith is directly fused to how they live with a prayerful awareness during their living hours – either through reflective pause, active prayer or a mindfulness of the lessons they grew up knowing as believers which still to this moment in their lives plays a special part in keeping them grounded.

I truly appreciate how Ms Bruce has curated a style for writing realistic Contemporary INSPY which is emotionally centred on uncovering the secrets we try to keep from ourselves, the humbled realities of living through prayer and the emotional upheaval of owning your own truth whilst walking with the realisation not every heart can fully embrace a love which is not reciprocated. There is a lot of real life stitched into this novel – from the highs and lows of feeling loved to the wandering path of friendship and the heartstone connections of family.

-quoted from my review of The Last Summer

Posted Tuesday, 4 December, 2018 by jorielov in 21st Century, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Book Spotlight, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Singing Librarian Book Tours, Women's Fiction

Cover Reveal w/ Author Q&A | Kaki Olsen has been embracing #Fantasy elements into her #Fiction ever since I first read “Swan & Shadow”. Learn more about her style of re-telling beloved fables, folklore & why ballet plays a role in her fantastical stories!

Posted Thursday, 12 April, 2018 by jorielov #WyrdAndWonder, After Ever After Publishing, Kaki Olsen, Unspun: A Collection of Tattered Fairy Tales 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As you might have already surmised, I am kicking-off a preview of what is going to alight on Jorie Loves A Story in May during my co-hosted event ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ with today’s conversation with Kaki Olsen! You might recognise her name, as I was on her blog tour for ‘Swan and Shadow’ – wherein I was first introduced to her style of combining Fantasy, Contemporary life and the folklore behind the ballet ‘Swan Lake’.

In the years since I read her debut novel, I’ve enjoyed keeping in touch with Ms Olsen – learning about her new stories and hopefully one day, will be relieved to hear there is a sequel to ‘Swan and Shadow’. Back in November of 2017, during #RRSciFiMonth, I hosted one of the event’s Twitter chats featuring a discussion about her previously released short within the Iron Dove’s Charity Anthology – wherein a dragon and a spaceship are part of the plot! I’ve been meaning to bring the transcript of that chat to my blog in order for everyone to enjoy the ruminative thoughts which were explored during it – something I have been earmarking to reveal during ‘Wyrd and Wonder’, as the story befits both genres of exploration: Science Fiction & Fantasy due to the genre bending elements within it.

Speculative Fiction is something I personally love to read – love to explore and love to rally behind because of how enjoyable the stories are to be read. You get to expand what you understand about your world but also the worlds in which stories can reside – as each writer I find who dares to re-invent their genre of interest is furthering our course towards a place where stories not only tackle new dimensions of insight they allow us to travel further than we have in previous generations. Speculative Fiction also doesn’t hold to certain restrictive barriers like other genres nor do they have a lot of boundaries of what you could or couldn’t conjure into life within a story either. For this, they are wicked imaginative – giving us a delight of seeing how each writer in turn re-sees the potential for the world they are wanting to create for us to visit.

When it comes to re-tellings and re-imaginings within Fantasy – wells, let’s just say, as a book blogger I’ve gained exposure to more than one novelist and short story writer’s interpretation of original source material! The fairytales are becoming some of my favourites to be re-created by far but there are stories based on folklore and mythology which are also starting to entreat into my reading life which are equally beloved. The best part of course is the diversity of stories and the resourcefulness of the writers who are crafting these tales. They take-on new ways of telling a story but with the solid world-building your expecting out of more traditional Fantasy settings. For this, I’ll be forever grateful.

Today, when I first heard about the premise behind this short story “Ethical Will” I knew I wanted to help spotlight it and feature a convo of introduction with my readers. I will be re-exploring the main components of this story and my reflections after having read it during ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ but for now, I wanted to give Ms Olsen the main spotlight in having the chance to tell you about the story and her inspiration for creating stories of fantastical realms!

Pull up a comfy chair, grab your favourite cuppa and settle in for a lovely conversation! Be sure to leave your thoughts and reactions for Ms Olsen in the comment threads & be sure to return in May to see which works of Fantasy have tempted me to reside within their worlds this inaugural year of ‘Wyrd and Wonder’!

On my connection to Ms Olsen:

I happily have had the pleasure of interacting with Ms Olsen whilst hosting her blog tour “Swan and Shadow” and in the years since it was released. Our friendship grew out of a mutual passion for reading, researching our stories and the many mutual interests we each share whilst finding ourselves randomly conversing on Twitter. We have enjoyed keeping in touch sharing our bookish and writerly lives whilst appreciating a fascination with the world of Fantasy.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with her ahead of reading her novels. 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. This is also true when I follow-up with them on future releases and celebrate the book birthdays that come after their initial publication.

Unspun
Subtitle: A Collection of Tattered Fairy Tales
by Kaki Olsen

Whatever happened to “happily ever after”?

Heroes search for happiness, villains plot revenge, and nothing is as easy as it once seemed. Gretel suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, an orphan girl questions Rumpelstiltskin’s legacy, a monster cat searches for a child to eat, and the pied piper realizes stealing a hundred and thirty children may not have been his smartest idea.

Fairy tales have endured for centuries even though—or perhaps because—their conclusions are often more unsettling than satisfying. In Unspun, eleven storytellers come together to challenge and explore a few of those classic tales. Unexpected twists are sure to provoke both thought and laughter.

Gorgeous illustrations by Ruth Nickle accompany each piece.

Genres: Anthology Collection of Short Stories and/or Essays, Fairy-Tale Re-Telling, Fantasy Fiction, Re-telling &/or Sequel, Urban Fantasy

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 978-1986727877

Also by this author: Unspun

on 4th April, 2018

Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Ebook

Read more about ‘Ethical Will’ on the Author’s Site

Previous releases by kaki olsen:

I had the pleasure of being on the blog tour celebrating the release for “Swan & Shadow” – you can find my review and my interview as well as Ms Olsen’s Guest Post attached to the tour happily celebrated on Jorie Loves A Story. Whilst I am in the process of discussing the short story within the “Iron Doves: Anthology” for ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ the Fantasy event I am co-hosting in May 2018.

Posted Thursday, 12 April, 2018 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Book Spotlight, Reader Submitted Q&A