Category: Debut Author

+Blog Book Tour+ The Story of Land and Sea by Katy Simpson Smith

Posted Tuesday, 2 September, 2014 by jorielov Harper Books, HarperAudio, HarperCollins Publishers, Katy Simpson Smith, The Story of Land and Sea 4 Comments

Published by: Harper Books (@harperbooks)

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)

Available Formats: Hardback, Audiobook, & Ebook

Official Author Websites: Site | Her Quirky Blog w/ Qs to her brother

Converse via: #TheStoryOfLandAndSea & #KatySimpsonSmith

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Story of Land and Sea” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of the book direct from the publisher HarperCollins Publishers, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

The Story of Land and Sea
by Katy Simpson Smith
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini

Set in a small coastal town in North Carolina during the waning years of the American Revolution, this incandescent debut novel follows three generations of family—fathers and daughters, mother and son, master and slave—characters who yearn for redemption amid a heady brew of war, kidnapping, slavery, and love.

Drawn to the ocean, ten-year-old Tabitha wanders the marshes of her small coastal village and listens to her father’s stories about his pirate voyages and the mother she never knew. Since the loss of his wife, Helen, John has remained land-bound for their daughter, but when Tab contracts yellow fever, he turns to the sea once more. Desperate to save his daughter, he takes her aboard a sloop bound for Bermuda, hoping the salt air will heal her.

Years before, Helen herself was raised by a widowed father. Asa, the devout owner of a small plantation, gives his daughter a young slave named Moll for her tenth birthday. Left largely on their own, Helen and Moll develop a close but uneasy companionship. Helen gradually takes over the running of the plantation as the girls grow up, but when she meets John, the pirate turned Continental soldier, she flouts convention and her father’s wishes by falling in love. Moll, meanwhile, is forced into marriage with a stranger. Her only solace is her son, Davy, whom she will protect with a passion that defies the bounds of slavery.

In this elegant, evocative, and haunting debut, Katy Simpson Smith captures the singular love between parent and child, the devastation of love lost, and the desperate paths we travel in the name of renewal.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Military Fiction, Revolutionary War Era

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-0062335944

Published by Harper Books

on 26th August, 2014

Format: Paperback ARC

Length: 7 hours and 28 minutes (unabridged)

Pages: 256

Author Biography:

Katy Simpson Smith was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. She attended Mount Holyoke College and received a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She has been working as an adjunct professor at Tulane University and is the author of We Have Raised All of You: Motherhood in the South, 1750-1835. She lives in New Orleans.

An Editor’s Note inside the ARC:

I am always happily amazed when I find the letter from the Editor or Acquisitions person inside the publishing house who has elected to publish a novel. I get a bit giddy over these little notes which are inclusive to ARCs because from the outside world this little insight is out of sight from those of us who grew up reading finished copies of novels, and never knew what was held within the opening pages of an ARC. I, myself was only exposed to ARCs originally through my participation in the First Impressions programme at Book Browse. The first year I was a book blogger I received a few here or there, but it was in late Spring and into Mid-Summer I started to notice I was receiving more than the occasional few. I simply smiled, because for me, the happiness is in seeing how each publisher approaches the binding of an ARC and the disclosures they put on their back jackets as to how they are going to proceed with publicity and marketing. I like the little unknown details of the passageway a novel travels once it leaves the publisher; little clues I would only be able to fathom a guess untold previously.

Not every ARC has such a note, mind you, but the ones that do always strike me as needing to be included with the finished copy. It is such a curious bit of the novel’s life – this note the person who first came across the manuscript saw the life which is now breathed into the pages has set a note inside this advanced copy as to give the advanced reader the joy by which they had for themselves prior to the novel’s release. This hidden and treasured burst of joy of discovering a new novelist and the manner in which the pen inked out their written legacy. I cherish these notes and as I read this one from Mr. Jonathan Burnham (not an Editor per se, but the Senior Vice President) I felt an inertia of excitement. I saw in his short note of praise on behalf of The Story of Land and Sea, a reader who is lit afire by words and palettes of stories painted by ink. I knew then what I knew at the conclusion of the novel: I had stumbled across something quite remarkable.

Listen to a passage from the Novel:

The Story of Land and Sea by Katy Simpson Smith

as narrated by Edoardo Ballerini via HarperAudio_US

Starting my second blog tour novel via TLC through an audiobook sample:

Originally, I had been most delighted to share my experience in finding that Yangsze Choo had narrated her novel The Ghost Bride, as I had listened to her read the opening chapter of her novel prior to soaking inside the pages myself with the book in my hands. Imagine my happier joy in finding that this particular book The Story of Land and Sea, is not only released in audiobook but it was available to ‘sample’ via SoundCloud! I have included the sample along with my review, as the most curious nature of ‘listening’ to a novel ahead of consumption for me is having the blessing of hearing certain words and phrases spoken aloud! As I had fully declared on my review for The Ghost Bride, being a dyslexic reader is quite the elliptical adventure! I do not oft know how certain words are intoned or meant to be said aloud, as I garnish my own endearing language as I turn through the pages of the stories I read. Invariably, by the time I have finally sorted out how a word or name is properly said I am not always keen to let go of my original renderings as they have become a ‘part of the story’ as felt and seen through my own eyes of how the tale is revealed.

However, the beauty of audiobook samples online is that I get to curb my dyslexic slips at the jump-start of reading a new novel, soaking in a bit of the author’s original intended voice for their words and alight rather soundly inside the story as it was always meant to be enjoyed. In this instance, the voice of the narrator had a rather profound effect on how I saw the father in the story carry himself through his carriage; he is a strong yet a bit shy of a fellow, confident but not quite fully aware of his strengths at the same time. The actor who portrayed him did a good job of presenting the furrowed thoughts any father would have on behalf of his young daughter growing up without the benefit of a mother; or rather even, as a reflective premonition of how his daughter could mature on the merits of whom her mother was as a younger woman. He is a bit anguished over the history of his wife and daughter, and I appreciated hearing this conviction of emotion thriving in the voice on the audiobook version. Likewise, he did quite a good job at showing the innocent nature of a child – not quite fully understanding her father’s emotional state, and yearning to simply be in his company.

I daresay, this is going to be placed on my audiobook wish list over on Riffle! To think actors are now lending their voices to breathing life into stories lit alive by voice and the mirth of telling a story through the spirit of vocal narration! I ought to have half a mind to recommend a few actors I follow on Twitter to see if they could start to audition as they have speaking voices that I never tire of listening too, and I’d be plumb surprised if they were not a natural fit to this type of story-telling!

Posted Tuesday, 2 September, 2014 by jorielov in 18th Century, A Father's Heart, Action & Adventure Fiction, ARC | Galley Copy, Audiobook, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Bookish Films, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Editor's Note | Inside ARC, Family Drama, Family Life, Father-Daughter Relationships, Historical Fiction, Interviews Related to Content of Novel, Pirates and Swashbucklers, Revolutionary War Era, Single Fathers, Soundcloud, TLC Book Tours, War Drama

+Blog Book Tour+ Maggie’s Wars by Phil Pisani A war drama as lived through the courage of a woman re-defining her position in a man’s world.

Posted Tuesday, 26 August, 2014 by jorielov All Classics Books, American Book Incorporated, Maggie's Wars, Phil Pisani 2 Comments

Maggie’s Wars by Phil Pisani

Published By: All Classics Books, an imprint of American Book Incorporated
(aka American Book Publishing, a defunct publisher)(author is actively seeking a new publisher)
Official Author Websites: Site | Maggie’s Wars on Facebook | @PhilPisani1

Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Ebook

{I found the Trade Paperback available on Powells.com}

Converse via: #MaggiesWars

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Maggie’s Wars” virtual book tour through HFVBT: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of the book direct from the author Phil Pisani, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Due to personal issues arising from self-hosting my book blog (Jorie Loves A Story) within the 24 hours ahead of my stop last Friday, the 22nd of August. I am posting my book review post-tour instead, and am grateful for the understanding of the author Mr. Pisani, of whom I spoke to on Twitter the day of my original tour scheduled stop.

Inspired to Read:

I have percolated my keen interest (and most dearest desire, mind you!) in vintage typewriters ever so often on my blog, and within the links (of which are temporarily ‘missing’ from my sidebar) threaded on my blog I have left a curious little nudge of this passion left within the mentions of ‘The Typosphere’ and all things geekily befit a girl bent on owning a retrofitted (vintage) typewriter from the 1930s-1940s. I have the mind of finding a workhorse (one so powerful the happy merriment of clacking away on my own manuscripts will not put it into an earlier grave) and one wherein only the occasional missive could be typed out for a friend. I daresay, once I start ‘growing’ my collection I’ll most likely be one of those lovely souls I see in ‘type-in’ photographs whose sporting a variety of machines, and letting everyone write-off a note to a friend of theirs to mail by post.

Part of what encouraged my interest in this particular novel, was not merrily the cover-art sporting a curious shot of a typewriter, but the very synopsis of it; of finding a wicked strong female character charging into a life bourne of men and a long honoured past of service where peers are not easy to come by and where a backbone of tenacity is commonplace! I am referring to the trade of journalism, and the strong boiled grit of any woman who wants to take-on a field so rife and known for being for men and men alone. I love stories where women are shown as not only courageous but trail-blazing forerunners for everyone else who rises after them in successive generations. I, also, happen to have a particular fondness for journalism – albeit in fictional stories, and most especially the newspaper trade! Mostly I have come to find stories in motion picture that whet my fancy of interest (i.e. “The Paper” starring Marisa Tomei & Michael Keaton; “One Fine Day” starring Michelle Pfeiffer & George Clooney; and of course, “I Love Trouble” starring Julia Roberts”. I also fancy classic films like “His Girl Friday” starring Rosalind Russell & Cary Grant and “It Happened One Night” starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable.) yet there are a few novels I have found as well over the years. One in particular was part of a series, but the publisher went under before the series could alight and find its footing. A bit sad on that note, as the lead character was a typing secretary with her own portable typewriter by which she travelled with job to job. Loved the premise and the fact she solved cosies as she typed or rather stumbled upon murderous circumstances made it even lovelier.

I have always wanted to seek out more story-lines in fiction, told by authors and settled inside the bounded pages of novels; the stories my mind is so fanciful to watch on film. Seeing an excerpt of this novel prior to electing to participate in the blog tour sealed the initial joy I had in reading the synopsis. Even seeing Maggie for a few short paragraphs, I knew I wanted to spend time with the feisty blonde who dared to carve out a path where most women would not have dared to walk! And, if typewriters were involved, ooh, all the more reason to dive into the heart of the novel! Dare I say, if she were a redhead Maureen O’ Hara would have played her on camera!

Maggie's Wars

Combatting wars on two fronts – one of fame and the other love – Maggie Hogan never wavers as a rare woman reporter on the battlefields of World War II, the Nuremburg Trials and the beginnings of the cold war. But she makes the mistake of falling for an officer, complicating her ambitions. Learn of what one woman feels she must do in order to make it in a man’s world, no matter what. Maggie’s Wars is a story about the ultimate battle between love and prestige, and how you can’t win them both.

Places to find the book:

Series: Maggie's Wars, No.1

Also in this series: Intangible, Beneath Creek Waters

on 6th November, 2013

Pages: 232

Author Biography:

Phil Pisani grew up on the north side of the railroad tracks in an upstate New York blue-collar industrial town in a rough neighborhood filled with the most colorful characters in the world. Factory and tannery workers mingled with bar and restaurant owners, gamblers and gangsters, good people and bad people, brash rogues and weak loudmouths, all spawned by the early immigrant movement to America. Italians, Russians, Slovacks, Irish, and Germans formed a rough and tough section of town where few from the south side dared to venture. He learned to fight at a very young age, both in the ring and on the streets. Fights became badges of honor. He also was a voracious reader. His mother worked in the village’s library. After school, or fights or sandlot football games he would curl away into the adult reading section. Enjoying the polished blonde oak bookshelves, tables and chairs, he would choose a book from the stacks and delve into its smells and contents. Reading soothed him.

He studied history and humanities in Pisa, Italy, and Oswego State in New York and later earned a MA in Political Science from Binghamton University.

He worked as a labor investigator for NY and rose in the ranks through the years but never stopped writing or reading. He currently lives in Albany NY, with his wife Joanne.

Inserting yourself into a field wrought of men:

Maggie has more gumption than most women her age, older, or younger combined – she has the forthwith and stalwart attitude of never backing down when your in the right, and bending the conventional roles as far as she dared to re-direct them! She solidified in her own heart and mind, the will of a working woman in an age of war and with the determined grit to realise she was not going to be happy within a traditional role; expected by her suitors to take-on. No, Maggie was the rare breed of women whose bliss was attached to the hip of the adventure she was embracing, the pulse of the news breaking before her eyes, and the danger of being in a moment of raw horror. She took the courage in her veins to heighten her awareness of the living environment around her, as much as she credited her initial responses to living horror as a surviving method of acknowledgement as a reporter. To distance herself yet contain herself in the emotional angst all the while reporting the news with a modicum of sensibility and tact.

The callus way the men in her field short-change her abilities and throw her darts at her gender only further inspire her fire to be stoked inside her belly. To refute their sneers and vocal jabs by keeping her head bent on the assignment and her heart outside of swaths of emotional angst.

My Review of Maggie’s Wars:

The Preface of Maggie’s Wars held within its simplicity an inspiring nod towards how serendipitously our lifepaths can unfold before us, and within the observations of where our feet have taken us a measure of kismet is always alongside the hopeful dreams we cast into the cosmos. A beautiful soliloquy of one woman’s fond remembrance of where her past led her into her future, and it was such a wonderful way to begin the story! By the time you enter into the first chapter, your quite aware of the author’s knitted style of giving breath to the craft of story-telling; allowing a fluidity of his lead character Maggie to overtake your senses, endear your heart, and ignite your imagination with a clarity of her driven passion for the life she’s lived. It is in the way he chooses to write in her observations, the manner of her speech, and the ticking nod of her essence, as she starts to bloom alive on the page. I knew from the moment I turnt page 2 I was in for a sweet surprise of narrative, underlit by a light of a joyful narrating current of story inked out of the author’s pen.

By page 15, I was curling into a smile, knowing exactly what was drawing my eye further into the story at such a fast clip: Pisani has written a war drama in the style and favour of a classic movie! Almost as if the characters and the setting were set behind one of the classical story arcs caught on camera, and your nestled in for the duration, popcorn a finger grasp away and eyes absorbing everything in as though your seeing this style of film for the first time. His approach to the craft is one that I appreciate, as he gently glides you into the world where Maggie has alighted; the cross-hairs between choosing a life of a reporter and the traditional route as a wife. She lingers over the choice until her room-mate Flora points out the obvious nature of her character. Flora is the classic best friend you want to room with whilst your living on your salt in Greenrich.

I only snuck a cursory glimpse at a review on this novel posted by a friend of mine (Erin @ Oh for the Hook of a Book), and it was at this passage of time I understand the words which lifted into my focus ‘he wrote a novel befit a noir motion picture’ or perhaps it was worded differently but the meaning was the same! Noir, oh, my yes, and how pleasantly I was to be surprised by this realisation! Generally speaking, Erin & I have the propensity to appreciate the same authors, novels, and styles of literary voice. Her reviews (like those of Audra @ Unabridged Chick) are always a delight to dissolve into after or even before, I’ve picked up the book myself! On this particular instance, I was saving my visits until afterwards,… as I sometimes do.

Maggie’s moxie of proving her worth as a reporter early-on whilst attempting to nail the coveted interview with Madame Chiang Kai-shek, murmured a stir of a memory of another strong-willed woman I always loved watching a fire light inside her eyes; the character of Tess (portrayed by Melanie Griffith) in Working Girl. Defining the role you’re given and taking it a step further is the making of any character who bends convention and attempts to supersede away from the norm. Pisani stitched in just enough moxie into Maggie to already know what her contemporary Tess would have told her: don’t wait for the story, go out and get the story! I love her ingenuity and her eagle eye observations on the politico world of New York City!

There is an undercurrent connection to organised crime as Maggie’s heart is attached to a curious cat known as Johnny Pero, er, Stone rather as he prefers to be called. She wasn’t flummoxed by this bit of information but rather guessed it herself yet respected him enough not to draw out an enquiry. He, on the other hand was bewildered by his feelings for this woman he first caught sight of on the street – back when she was first attempting to land a job at the coveted Trib; a journalist dream starting gate. Their two paths crossed at times in their lives where forging a relationship wasn’t quite optimal. His connections to organised crime and the exploits of his role inside the family therein are explained in full as you read Johnny’s perspective of the events as they unfolded. This is where Pisani makes a good choice in first revealing Maggie’s life from her own point-of-view before re-visiting it again from Johnny’s. He keeps the scenes tempered a bit, giving out the raw details but holding back just enough to where you get the gist and sometimes even more than that, but he doesn’t cross the line. I appreciated the honesty and the fact that despite knowing Johnny’s actions were outright unlawful, the man had a conscience.

As Maggie & Johnny equally started to have their fill of the war on the front lines, both started to question their motivations on going there at all. Maggie was high on the thirst for getting ‘the story’ — blinded by ambition and a zest for danger, she was absolutely clueless to understand what the she would witness in reality. Johnny on the other hand was forced into serving on a special unit, placing his life and his comrades on dangerous grounds the entire time he served. Pisani remains true to etching in the humanity of the story, the undertone is always focused on the hope even in the middle of the darkness of the battlefield. The story ends on the wings of a cliffhanger, as I have a feeling the story is not yet done. The saddest part of the novel is the knowledge that both Johnny and Maggie ended up being pawns for other people whose goals went against the logics of humanity.

On the writing style of Phil Pisani | a classic story-teller of the war era:

Pisani has written a war drama intermingled with an organised crime family angle that gives new definition to the offerings inside historical fiction overall. He draws you into this close-centered world of crime, drama, city politics, and the interior life of a button man on the job. Maggie happens to be the woman who draws the eye of the gangster without his realisation of how that would effect both their lives; their paths start to merge together even though both are not willing to commit. Pisani handles both of their characters with a grace and ease, he is honest and upfront about Johnny’s nefarious dealings in the neighbourhood (if your familiar with Mario Puzo, especially The Last Don; none of these sequences will be unfamiliar) as much as he counter-balances his life on the outskirts of society by giving him a chance to meet someone he never felt he could compliment.

The tone of the novel is underpinned by the desires of Maggie to prove her salt and worth as a reporter in a field as much as it is a juxtaposition of Johnny’s life on the streets and at war. Neither of them realised what they would be getting into once their agreed for their own reasons to be shipped overseas, and it is the drama of how they live through and what they gain back tenfold in experience and maturity that makes the story an enjoyable read. The fact that Pisani is creative with how he chooses his characters to ‘express’ themselves gave me a smile, as this is one question I am always quick to ask any writer who chooses to take the opposite route. This story is enjoyable because although a stronger word or two might be implied, it is how Pisani knits their personality through the words he uses that left me full of appreciation. And, the few times a word might have been used was very well placed.

Blog Book Tour Stop,

courtesy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Virtual Road Map of “Maggie’s Wars” Blog Tour found here:

I recommend this novel for anyone who loves reading Kate Mosse!

(review of ‘Citadel’)

See what I’m hosting next for:

and mark your calendars!

Reader Interactive Question:

What pulls you inside the narrative of a war drama the most!? This one was quite a unique story overall, as it the main point of view exchanges between the two lead characters; at times overlapping and conjoining to become one. I appreciated this style of story-telling as it added extra layers of depth and meaning. Which perspective do you prefer!? First person or two interchanging points of view like this one!?

{SOURCES: “Maggie’s Wars” Book Cover, synopsis, tour badge and HFVBT badge were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and were used by permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Typewriter clipart inserted through the ClipArt Plug-In via WP for the Open Clip Art Library (OCAL) – all clip art images are in the public domain and are free to use without restrictions. Tweets embeded by codes provided by Twitter.}

The ‘live reading’ tweets I shared as I read & reviewed “Maggie’s Wars”:

{ favourite & Re-tweet if inspired to share }

My newly hosted #bookblog is sorted: #amreading two lovely #histfic novels: #BladeOfTheSamurai (Susan Spann) & #MaggiesWars @PhilPisani1

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) August 26, 2014

.@PhilPisani1 to inhale the beauty & light of a storyteller wholly consumed by his research & spirit of his character illumines #MaggiesWars — Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) August 26, 2014

#amreading #MaggiesWars where a sharp-fire tenacious character alights on a path towards giving her destiny a bit of help #histfic #newbook — Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) August 26, 2014

@PhilPisani1 I was up til after 3am, striving to read more & more of this novel; I love the way in which you set the flow of narrative voice

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) August 26, 2014

#amreading #MaggiesWars Phil Pisani whose #amwriting style is a throwback to the classical era of war dramas; infused w/a strong female lead — Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) August 26, 2014

#amreading #MaggiesWars a drama during #WWII, where one woman attempts to defy the odds of her gender & tackle being a war reporter; evoking

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) August 27, 2014

Comments via Twitter:

@JLovesAStory Thanks, Jorie hope you enjoy it!

— Phil Pisani (@PhilPisani1) August 22, 2014

@jlovesastory no apologies needed. Take your time. Look forward to your thoughts.

— Phil Pisani (@PhilPisani1) August 23, 2014

@JLovesAStory Thank you so much, Jorie – you wonderful!

— Phil Pisani (@PhilPisani1) August 26, 2014

@JLovesAStory Once again thank you from the bottom of my heart, Jorie – you are exceptional.

— Phil Pisani (@PhilPisani1) August 27, 2014

@ErinLindsMcCabe @CrytzerFry Ooh wow! I see the two I mentioned! Inscription (@HHMillerBooks) & Maggie's Wars (@PhilPisani1) are visible! :)

— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) September 4, 2014

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Go Indie

Posted Tuesday, 26 August, 2014 by jorielov in 20th Century, ARC | Galley Copy, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book for University Study, Bookish Discussions, Clever Turns of Phrase, Cliffhanger Ending, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Espionage, Film Music Book Typewriter Focus, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Good vs. Evil, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Horror-Lite, Indie Author, Life Shift, Light vs Dark, Military Fiction, New York City, Organised Crime, Passionate Researcher, Psychological Suspense, The World Wars, Typewriter Culture, Vulgarity in Literature, War Drama, War-time Romance, Warfare & Power Realignment

+Blog Book Tour+ Willow Springs by Carolyn Steele #PureRomance a debut from Cedar Fort Publishing & Media!

Posted Sunday, 24 August, 2014 by jorielov Carolyn Steele, Cedar Fort Inc, Pure Romance series, Sweetwater Books, Willow Springs 0 Comments

Willow Springs by Carolyn Steele

Published By: Sweetwater Books (@SweetwaterBooks),
an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFortBooks)
Official Author Websites: Site | @CarolynSteeleUT | Facebook

Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #WillowSprings OR #CarolynSteele

Acquired Book By:

I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Cedar Fort whereupon I am thankful to have such a diverse amount of novels and non-fiction titles to choose amongst to host. I received a complimentary copy of “Willow Springs” direct from the publisher Sweetwater Books (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

This particular book launches the new “Pure Romance” line of Inspirational Romance from Cedar Fort! I have a long-standing appreciation of reading inspiring stories of Romance (i.e. one of my original beloved stories was Frontier Lady by Judith Pella; you can read more on my review of Chain of Mercy) whether they are individual novels or novellas in print editions (i.e. Heartsong Presents or Love Inspired series),… I simply love being wrapped inside the lift of joy and spirit of a spiritual-centered romance! When I realised this was going to be the launch of a new series of novels, I simply could not pass up the chance to get to know this line from day one – forward! Besides, I have a soft spot for Westerns — if it has to do with the Frontier American small townes or life on the emerging frontier itself, there is a strong chance I’ll settle inside the story! Hence why I always loved watching Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman! (until the writing went a bit off-kilter in the latter seasons!)

One bit of an interesting connection to the story, is that part of my ancestry lies in Sweden! To read about a Swedish immigrant who was attempting to carve out a new life for herself felt like a natural fit for me! I always love reading stories that form connections to my ancestral past. Little snippets of insight I might not otherwise have had the pleasure of finding revealed.

Willow Springs

Husbands. Crissa had to suppress a shudder at the thought. If I had wanted a husband, I would have stayed in Boston. Indeed, Crissa considered Willow Springs to be the nearest thing to her idea of purgatory. She certainly did not plan to stay here long.

Swedish immigrant Crissa Engleson fled Boston hoping to start a new life, unknown and unencumbered, on the American frontier. The quiet gold mining town of Willow Springs in the Utah desert seemed the perfect spot—until the intrigue of her past and rivalries of the town’s leading families enveloped her.

Unaware that a relentless bounty hunter is pursuing her, Crissa falls in love with Drake Adams, a handsome Pony Express rider and the son of an influential mine owner. While Drake returns Crissa’s interest, their courtship is thwarted by the pursuit of one of Drake’s rivals, who may be motivated more by malice than by love.

To realize her dreams, Crissa must confront her painful past and fight for her future head-on.

Places to find the book:

Series: Pure Romance, No.1

Also in this series: Sophia, The Second Season, To Suit a Suitor, Mischief & Manors, Unexpected Love, Lies & Letters, The Darkest Summer, The Secret of Haversham House, Love and Secrets at Cassfield Manor, Enduring Promises of the Heart, Book Spotlight: The Promise of Miss Spencer, Intangible, Beneath Creek Waters

on 12 August, 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 231

Author Biography:

Born and raised in Utah, Carolyn Steele was introduced to western novels at a very young age by her grandfather, the son of a gold miner. She has been writing technical and marketing communications for most of her adult life. Her nonfiction articles have appeared in numerous national magazines. She earned her undergraduate degree in Communications from the University of Utah.

Married and living in Salt Lake City, Utah, Carolyn loves researching obscure history then weaving it into stories. She also enjoys family dinners with her children and grandchildren, photography, travel, golf, reading, and all forms of needlework.

Frontier Americana : Small Townes & Immigrants:

The American West was such a difficult area for settlers, frontier families, and those who were striving to make a new beginning inside their lives for the better. It is in a small towne on the route of the Pony Express, we enter the life of an immigrant (Crissa) who is living away from her parents in order to make a proper living for all of them. Here on the outskirts of the wilds of the West, we discover that for all the graces of small towne living one of the worst bits is uncovering projected jealousy through misunderstandings! I appreciated how the dusty and exhausted mining towne was brought to life, to show a reflection of difference between those who worked the mines and the townesfolk themselves, who attempted to provide the civilisation! It is rather interesting that I am reading about a second towne on the edge of elsewhere directly supported by a mine! The last story of course, was Flight to Coorah Creek, where I found myself over the moon in love with the inhabitants and the life of an ambulance aeroplane pilot! The similarities had me in a fit of smiles as I started to read Willow Springs!

I always have a particularly keen interest in ‘second chance stories’ and ‘stories of new beginnings’, where people are working hard to redeem their past and/or simply want to take off someplace new and forge a different kind of life than they had previously. I love the adventurous spirit as much as the true strength of belief that leaving everything you knew behind in your old life was necessary to create a new future; once you find where your feet land. Small towne fiction is always an ideal setting where characters can interact and yet, remain apart from each other as long as necessary at the same time. Observing the inter-dramatics of where the towne bends or yields rather to whichever new presence has arrived is part of the delight taking the journey through the story itself! Most of our ancestors, including my own, took it upon themselves to dig deep and strive towards seeking out new land, new experiences, and a new way of living when they originally came over from the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond. How lovely then it is to curl inside a historical story just a few stones outside our own living history to walk inside a person’s shoes who dared to do what our own ancestors did!

My Review of Willow Springs:

Inns, boarding houses, and restaurants were the bare necessities to keep frontier life on the cusp of being a bit more self-sufficient on a similar vein as their neighbouring large cities. I love how the action of hosting and waitressing inside of a small mining towne opens this inspiring romance to the expanding picture that surrounds Willow Springs! A towne where an unforgiving and oft-times judgmental township of residents eagerly jump on a bandwagon if it suits their fancy to cast aspersions on someone they hardly know properly! The fitting strength of determined grit and the lift of faith in knowing she was on the right path towards supporting her own kin, is what roots Crissa Engleson into the heart of the story; and sympathetically into a reader’s heart as well. Here we find her balancing an honest day’s work against the joys of spending time with the Inn Owner’s (Molly) children. The fact that she finds the dashingly handsome and coy mannerisms of one of the Pony Express Riders rounds out the introductory joy!

Most Western dramas have a darker shade of a soul living near to the main characters, and Steele doesn’t disappoint by including Garth Wight into the folds of the chapters! An ego-ridden brute of a bloke bent against years of angst, drunken reverie, and a path never materialising in front of him to stake a claim for gold, Garth is the type of fellow any girl would be smart to avoid! His bold and curt behaviour towards Crissa was not only uncalled for but it stirred the stoking fire of where the arc of the climax might take this sweet girl from Sweden! Seeing her speak in her native tongue as she attempts to make sense out of her everyday blights and adventures warmed my spirit as I appreciate when speakers of different languages can find their own voices to be heard in fiction. It gives a proper sense of dimension and an equality in literature that strives to reflect the world’s melting pot.

Crissa’s friendship with the Inn’s cook Marida, gives the most comedic moments by far, as the cook is never far from giving her a jolt of common sense intermixed with a reassuring ear when life is turnt upside down. Marida is feisty as she is nurturing, although I’d wager she’d rather be known for the former! Yet, when Crissa was celebrating the good news Marida had given her about her beau, she internally could not help but stop to wonder if a similar life of happiness was indeed meant for her own path. It was in this moment of uncertainty laced with thoughts of the past, Crissa was taken off guard and attacked quite brutally by Garth. His arrogance and aggression left her shattered emotionally, physically bruised, and inside the tight-knit community she found her footing was lost; the eyes of the towne judging her negatively though she did nothing wrong. This is typical of the era in which Crissa lived, but for me, I felt for her dearly in this moment as she was attempting to align herself with a solid group of trusted friends whilst she tried to make Willow Springs her home.

On the footheels of that fated night behind her, Crissa in true fashion to settle down the rumours had to make a quick exit out of towne, which led her directly back to a loving couple who were her surrogate family. Seeing the landscape of Salt Lake City (a city I’ve only seen visually on camera and/or during the Winter Olympics coverage) is painted beautifully for any reader who loves to knit inside of a backdrop which has a propensity for natural beauty. Steele gives out such a breath of wonder for a part of the country I know very little about, I nearly felt as though I were breathing in the vistas as Crissa observed them herself.

Your heart stirs as you read the story, as the drama continues to unfold at an alarming rate, especially after a precognitive dream cuts Crissa’s visiting plans short. The pulse of emotion is tight as the successive chapters reveal a bit of darkness looming over her young shoulders, and a bit of anguished grief as well. Her heart swells and bleeds through the intrepid sorrow of losing a dear friend of hers and in an attempt to bring normalcy to the children left behind, she starts to further question if her own path is going to be set to rights. The inclusion of her letters and her innermost thoughts as she tries to work out the best path through spiritual guidance and a cluster of hope tethered to her frazzled nerves, Crissa once more has to pick up the pieces of her life.

Steele has written an aptly real and raw romantic suspense novel, as just when you think every wicked and evil reason Crissa has turnt to live outside the shadow of her past, something new arises to draw her closer into harm. The vileness of how human behaviour can be quickly turnt to malice under the right circumstances knits the suspense into the backdrop of the romance; half budding and delayed from blooming. Intermixed into the thick of it is a beautiful yet deadly storyline about herbalists and the various uses of apothecary knowledge. All of this accumulates to a thundering run towards the ending — where your lurching forward with eager anticipation and with a bit of shock horror how one woman’s plight could take her so far deep into the psychosis of the human mind.

On the writing style of Carolyn Steele:

As soon as I started to read this novel, I was instantly thinking about a new Hallmark Channel tv series (thankfully, renewed for a second season!) When Calls The Heart (also a small mining towne); mostly as women in both story-lines have to prove their moxy, their faith, and their willingness to forge a life in a place where ‘rough and ready’ has yet to docile the wilds of the West. Her gentleness in conviction of a faith-centered life is a true lift of joy to read, as she allows her characters the grace to experience their lives with a spirituality that shines through their actions. The inner-workings of seeing where their personal thoughts lie (especially Crissa’s) on how their life is stitching together is a bit of bliss, as each shared moment of their internal world is written in italics (the same with the letters). The full effect of the latter years of the 19th Century are representative of the dialogue exchanges Crissa has with Marida, as Marida’s accented (of Italian decent) English is a bit different from Crissa’s who talks more like an avid reader than a regular commoner.

A sturdy voice for a romance, Carolyn Steele’s debut novel is wrapped inside the Inspirational category of offerings creating a heart-warming fixture for any reader of clean romance. The fact it happens to be the launching novel for the new series of stories under the ‘Pure Romance’ line of novels by Cedar Fort, extends the joy of finding it. The joy of reading the story was a double-fold blessing as the lulling canopy of reading this novel helped to ease my own tensions from being a new self-hosted book blogger. I felt a lot of anxiety consume me over the weekend, as the hours spent sorting out a new hosted site and a heap of upgrades made me feel a bit harried to say the least. Soaking inside Willow Springs, is like walking inside the comfort of a familiar tale of a family friend whose strength and spirit helped renew your own. Reading is such a calming balm to me and this story was a pure joy to consume. I cannot wait to discover what Ms. Steele will pen next nor to follow the joy of where the Pure Romance line will be taken through Cedar Fort!

This Blog Tour Stop is courtesy of Cedar Fort, Inc:

Virtual Road Map of “Willow Springs” Blog Tour can be found here:

Click-through to mark your calendars for:

{SOURCES: Author photograph, Author Biography, Book Synopsis and Book Cover of “Willow Springs” were provided by the author Carolyn Steele and used with permission. The Cedar Fort badge was provided by Cedar Fort, Inc. and used by permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.}

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Bout of Books

Posted Sunday, 24 August, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, Apothecary, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Blog Tour Host, Brigham Young, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Deception Before Matrimony, Domestic Violence, Dreams & Dreamscapes, Equality In Literature, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Herbalist, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Life in Another Country, Mormonism, Naturopathic Medicine, Salt Lake City, Small Towne Fiction, Utah, Western Fiction, Western Romance, Widows & Widowers

+Author Interview+ A conversation with Laura Brown, on #DeafCulture and being a writer of Romance! Her debut novel is “Lila’s Choice”.

Posted Thursday, 14 August, 2014 by jorielov Laura Brown, Lila's Choice, Purple Gecko Books, the Choice Series 0 Comments

I am thankful to welcome, Laura Brown to my blog today, as we chatted about Deaf Culture, being a Mum whilst pursuing a professional writing career, and the joy of writing Romance in fiction. As you may have already realised if you visited earlier in the week during my spotlight of her {New!} Cover Reveal for her début novel, I happily crossed paths with this Indie Author in the twitterverse! It was a true pleasure for me to get to know her a bit better, as we found as we conversed both through this Interview and outside it, that we share quite a bit in common with each other. It is always lovely I think when two people who serendipitously cross paths find a connection with each other to celebrate!

Synopsis of the story:

Never let your friends get involved

in your personal life.

Lila and Nate learn this the hard way. They are the star-crossed lovers of Glendale High. For three years the students have waited for the two to get together. They begged Nate to put his past relationship behind him, and cringed when Lila started dating Bryce. Just your typical teenage romance, except they’re the teachers.

Lila, a guidance counselor with a sweet demeanor, has an answer for every problem, every problem but her own. A visit from childhood friend Bryce thrusts her calm world into turmoil, as emotions buried deep inside are dragged to the surface. He soon realizes what only a friend can notice and a lover regret, that Lila, unbeknownst to herself, is in love with Nate.

Nate has seen better days. He is a history teacher stuck living in the past. Depression has kept his love for Lila unspoken, his ego frail after being cheated on.

Now Lila and Nate’s coworkers must unleash a scheme and uncover Lila’s true feelings. In a school this nosey what better way to get fast results than to involve the student population? The students are all too eager to get involved.

If everything goes as planned Lila will have to choose between two men. If her friends fail they might destroy these three and ruin their friendship. No wonder the scheme is called Project Torture.

Biography of the Author:

Laura Brown lives in Massachusetts with her quirky abnormal family. Laura and her three cats are “differently abled.” Laura is hard of hearing, her oldest cat is deaf and partially blind, and the other two cats have cerebellar hyplasia (they shake, and they don’t find it endearing). The “normal” members of her family include her husband, who has put up with her since high school, and her young son who enjoys “typing” on Mommy’s laptop and has agreed to take full blame for all spelling errors.

In your author’s biography you mentioned you have three unique cats of which are able-bodied in different ways from each other that others might consider disabled. Did you seek out to adopt cats with special needs (as they have a harder time to be placed) or did their medical ailments arise later? Can you share an antidote of how their love and joy has been a testament of hope and resilience in your life?

Brown responds: My cat adoption story began when we adopted a sweet kitten named Callie. She was my first pet that wasn’t a fish, and just the sweetest little cat you could find. Unfortunately she came down with FIP (a fatal feline disease) and died at 9 months old. A month after her death my husband and I went to the shelter, ready to open our hearts to another cat. There we met Oreo, a black and white tiny cat, labeled as “special needs.” Now, after caring for a cat that had chemicals filling her insides, “special needs” did not deter us at all. We asked, and they claimed she had OCD. We didn’t care that she was neurotic, only that she was healthy and made us laugh, which she did. The day I picked her up I was informed she was deaf. I have a hearing loss myself, and I watched as Oreo circled in her carrier, something they labeled OCD. I banged on the table and she stopped circling and looked up at me, feeling the vibrations. I informed the staff that she was circling to make sure she was safe. They had no idea. I’ve tried teaching her ASL, but she insists my hands are just scratching posts.

A few months after we adopted her, as we were starting to think of getting her a friend, the shelter contacted us, asking if we would foster three neurological kittens. We agreed and picked up these fluff balls, two gray, one brown. We looked at them and our first thought was “awww, no.” Famous last words! These kittens have cerebellar hypoplasia, essentially their mom was sick while they were in utero and they have an underdeveloped cerebellum. They were under weight and needed a place to go until they were ready for adopting. Over the weeks of having them with us they grew on us, with their shakes and poor coordination (the only signs of their disease). A friend of ours adopted the smallest, shakiest one and we were prepared to adopt one of the remaining two. The two left over were both the gray cats, almost identical. The guy, Gus had fallen in love with my husband, the girl, Pepper, with me. Since Oreo was more my cat, we decided to adopt Gus. Only when we went to the shelter it was over crowded and full-grown cats were in carriers due to the lack of room. We knew if we adopted both, another cat would get more space, and a home, so both Gus and Pepper came home with us! Gus, I’m convinced, took all the nutrients in utero, because he only shakes when you get him dizzy. Pepper, shakes when excited, or scared, or just being herself. Just don’t tease her, if you shake your head she very carefully and deliberately controls her shakes to stay still!

Whilst reading your story about Oreo and her unique way of trying to sort out for herself if she were safe in her environment made me remember another cat I featured on my blog when I had read Cats Are Part of His Kingdom Too. The video I shared was one of many heart-warming ones I had found on behalf of Oskar. I placed the video that introduced me to Oskar, a cat who was bourne blind but was not defined by his blindness on the Interview I gave with the author Cindy Vincent. Even before I ‘met’ him, I always believed that animals like humans are given such a curious strong will towards compensating and overcoming any physical or sense-driven hurdle that crosses their path. After all, I still smile when I think about the dog who has a ‘wheelchair’ as his hind legs which no longer can support him. He can out run other dogs quick as a fox!

I loved learning about your cats, especially how Gus and Pepper not only knitted themselves into your hearts before you realised they were staying forever in your home, but how they each have such unique personality traits! Cats are beyond quirky, and being a cat lover myself, I have a lot of stories I could share, but the main thread that we share in common is our compassion for cats who need forever homes. My family and I have always given a home to a cat in need; including helping a neighbourhood cat who lost his guardian.

I encourage everyone to click-over the links to Ms. Vincent’s showcase pages, as my love for cats shines through!

You have a unique background yourself – how did you come to realise you’re a writer and what drew you into knitting together Contemporary Romances in particular?As I know, your original entry was through fan fiction based on “Frasier” of the Niles & Daphne storyline whilst contemplating a career as an actress but preferred being behind the scenes.

Brown responds: I’ve always loved writing, but never took it seriously until college, when I began writing fan fiction for Frasier (very, very bad fan fiction, I’m embarrassed to admit!). I loved writing, though, and when I graduated from college I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing a novel. I took my favorite piece of fan fiction, one I knew was very much my own story with their characters, and revamped it to make it completely my own. I’ve always loved romances, in fact, it was the Niles/Daphne storyline that drew me to become a Frasier fan in the first place. To write about matters of the heart is natural for me.

As for the acting: that was a teenage ambition of mine. I did plays in high school and college, but I love having my hands on everything. Impossible as an actor, plausible as a director, but as a writer, especially a writer of novels, there is the utmost control.

I love how you realised your full potential as an artist was to seek out a way which gave you the most creative control over creating your own works of fiction. I can understand and sympathise with this, as I always loved the ability to soak into my own muse, seek out where my heart was leading me next to create a believable world and full-bodied characters; breathing life into that space and watching it develop. Although, I do have interest in live theatre, I’d like to explore acting on stage and perhaps even, directing, as directing was one aspect of production that always had a keen passion for me as I loved the fact you were in charge of running a very large collaborative team! The fact you were inspired by “Frasier” says so much because it was such a cleverly written series!

In a way, as a writer you are still living a creative thread of conscience an actress would internalise, as you take-on the roles of each character as you draw breath into their story. Do you find that having a keen interest in acting has given you a bit of an edge as to how to interact with your imagination as you write?

Brown responds: I do feel my acting past helps me with my writing. I envision scenes in my head, even act them out to a small degree. I get into my characters, try and feel them and see through their eyes. Any way a writer has to connect with a character can only strengthen the way the character is portrayed on the page.

There are times where I think writers have it even a bit harder than actors, as we have to create the entire base of the character based on how depth and far our imaginations can carry us forward into the essence of who the character is; whereas actors have the benefit of what is already written on their behalf in a script. Actors do breathe a lot of dimensional depth into who the character is once it has transitioned off the page and I think it is a cohesive relationship, as writers start the process of creating life of a character but the actor takes the character into life. As much as readers continue the process for the writer, whilst they read and absorb an author’s words of a story.

Posted Thursday, 14 August, 2014 by jorielov in Author Found me On Twitter, Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, Deaf Culture in Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Indie Author, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Romance Fiction, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

{New} Cover Reveal for Debut Novel by Laura Brown: “Lila’s Choice” (Book One of the Choice Series)

Posted Tuesday, 12 August, 2014 by jorielov Laura Brown, Lila's Choice, the Choice Series 1 Comment

Today’s Cover Reveal is for a début novel which has already released under a different ‘cover’, as the author is electing to switch out the original artwork for a new version that will broaden the story’s appeal to a wider audience. I am thankful to be a part of her journey as an author, as she is one of the delightful writers I have crossed paths with on Twitter! I meet the friendliest salts of the earth on Twitter; either serendipitously connected through weekly tweetchats and/or whilst browsing through my feeds!

This particular author stood out to me when I was interacting with her during a #ChickLitChat (@ChickLitChatHQ) where the conversation started to talk about Deaf Culture, those who are hard of hearing*, and my pursuit to learn ASL (American Sign Language). I had mentioned that part of what keeps me inspired to becoming fluent is a tv series that is both spoken and signed regularly on each episode.

More conversations ensued and when she mentioned to me that she was going to début a new cover for her début novel, you could say I felt as though serendipity had played a very strong part in connecting us together!

Posted Tuesday, 12 August, 2014 by jorielov in Author Found me On Twitter, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Contemporary Romance, Deaf Culture in Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Indie Author, Romance Fiction, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event