Posted Saturday, 18 November, 2017 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Emma series, Emma: There's No Turning Back, Linda Mitchelmore 0 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 “Emma: There’s No Turning Back” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I am enjoying reading this series:
I was so happily caught up in the tides of this novel; of how it’s told and of how it explored so many different layers of sociological behaviour. You have a lot of joy greeting you in this novel – the setting is lush and happily resplendent of living against the salt of the sea whilst the characters are fully alive and fleshed out to walk straight off the inked pages. You feel the emotional depths of Emma’s pain and the well of uncertainty rising inside Seth intermixed with the duties Matthew is entrusted to hide from public view. It’s a dramatic suspense – full of heart and the choices everyone must make to live a life of honour or deceit.
I simply hope as I progress through the series, I shall be greeted by more of what I found inside ‘To Turn Full Circle’ where the hope of tomorrow lingers on the unspoken prayers of today. Where people can find ways to turn their life around even if their circumstances become shattered overnight and where second chances are not too hard fought to be acquired. I look forward to seeing where Ms Mitchelmore takes the Emma series and of seeing how Emma continues to mature into her skin to be the Emma we all can see in the teenage version of herself. This was such a lovely novel to devour because it’s of a tender romance and of a crossroads of one young woman’s life which will determine the rest of her days.
-quoted from my review of To Turn Full Circle
When I first read the first installment of this series, I was captured by how Michelmore set the pacing of the novel to progress forward through Emma’s journey. It is hard to believe nearly a year has transpired since I first read To Turn Full Circle – I still feel close to where I left Emma. I was dearly curious how Emma would make her transitions and how in the end, Emma might find a bit more happiness in her life than she had previously felt untouched by. It’s a captivating drama – with a strong heroine and a beautiful backdrop of scenery.
Initially, I had intended to confine my readings of this over a weekend, as I started reading this a week ago (11th November) – however, I’ve had a recent bout of illness – stemming out of my last migraine (during the week of Halloween), which has not allowed me the regular focus I enjoy whilst reading. Sometimes, I find, I just need a bit more time to recover after feeling unwell – thereby, my readings a week ago were a bit hit or miss – I was focusing on three stories (which I had tweeted) trying to find my feet again in literature. Thereby, I am stretching what I began on one weekend into a second week which blessedly I am hopeful will resolve the angst’s of the past few weeks where my health has been a bit on a downturn. I know there are others who are struggling with illnesses right now, too, as it’s that particular time of the year where illness can grab a hold of you quite firmly. I’ve also noticed I’ve been trying to fend off a second migraine – sometimes, health-wise you have a few more woes than you feel you can muddle through!
I will be focusing on quite a few ChocLit novels after my readings of Emma: There’s No Turning Back – as I am finally able to read the trifecta of Spooktastic Reads I had originally planned to read the last week of October when my migraine first arrived: The Secret Kiss of Darkness (Friday), The Highwayman’s Daughter (#ChocLitSaturdays) and The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight (Sunday). This week, is surely going to be a wicked sweet one as I curl up inside ChocLit novels which always have a way of giving me a lot of joy to consume!
Emma
Subtitle: There's No Turning Back
It isn’t easy to look forward when the past is so close behind you
Life hasn’t always been kind to Emma Le Goff. She has had her fair share of hardship and now finally, her life appears to be looking up. She and her childhood sweetheart, Seth Jago, are set to marry and both believe that an idyllic existence, free from heartache, awaits them.
However, when they discover that the past is more difficult to forget than they could have ever imagined, Emma continues to be haunted by the mysterious circumstances surrounding her family, and Seth is hounded by a jealous ex-lover set on revenge.
Seth plans for their escape to Canada, but when the charismatic Matthew Caunter returns to Devon, Emma finds herself uncertain of whether a move to Canada is really what she wants…
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Find on Book Browse
Book Page on World Weaver Press
ISBN: 978-1781890936
on 1st March, 2014
Pages: 356
Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)
Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook, Large Print & E-Book
The Emma Series:
Book One: To Turn Full Circle (see also Review)
Book Two: Emma: There’s No Turning Back
Book Three: Emma and her Daughter (Synopsis)
Converse via: #HistRom + #ChocLit
About Linda Mitchelmore
Linda has had over two hundred short stories published worldwide. She has also won many short story writing competitions – Woman’s Own, Woman & Home and Writespace to name but three. In 2004, Linda was awarded The Katie Fforde Bursary by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and has a story in their 50th Anniversary Anthology. Linda also won Short Story Radio Romance Prize 2010. Having started her writing career doing a short story course with Writing Magazine, she has now come full circle and is a preliminary judge for their short story competitions. Linda lives in Devon and is married with two grown-up children.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing | FantasticFiction
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Saturday, 18 November, 2017 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bootleggers & Smugglers, Britian, British Literature, Brothers and Sisters, Chefs and Sous Chefs, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Cookery, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Domestic Violence, England, Green-Minded Publishers, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Life Shift, Modern British Author, Modern British Literature, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Siblings, Singletons & Commitment, Small Towne Fiction, Suspense, the Nineteen Hundreds
Posted Monday, 23 October, 2017 by jorielov Crooked Cat Books, Heart of Stone, John Jackson 0 Comments
This afternoon, I am wicked happy to welcome to Jorie Loves A Story, an alum of my Romance genre chat #ChocLitSaturday – John Jackson! He is an avid reader of Romance & Historical Fiction – where his wanderings run close to my own – as we share a fond love and appreciation of ChocLit novels – his friendships with authors is quite extensive as he’s actively involved in the Rom organisations throughout the UK, whilst allowing him to meet-up in person with the romance & historical writers of today who are penning the stories which give us a heart-pulse of pause for their ability to transfuse the past (and/or the Contemporary) settings in such a way as to allow us to ‘breathe a life’ through the journeys their characters’ take through the stories themselves.
It is with extreme pleasure to now welcome a fellow reader and blogger into the fold of published status as an ‘author’. Mr Jackson’s wit and humour is infamous throughout the three years we’ve been chattering on Saturdays – he has a tenacious eye for quality in fiction throughout the Romance genre and for authentic portrayals of historic periods. If you want a go-to reference for where History entreats into a Historical novel, look no further than Mr Jackson for advice! His knowledge about ancestral research and nautical history is further impressive as he brings a lot to the table to discuss a wide variety of stories and settings.
As soon as I knew he was going to publish his debut novel this year, I knew I wanted to feature him on my blog – I’ve watched his journey from budding novelist to making the bridge from a moonlighting writer into the blogosphere and online communities as a reader/blogger to published author. The following conversation is meant to introduce my readers to the series he is creating through this first installment of “Heart of Stone” whilst giving you a few inside glimpses behind how he creates his literary world.
Dublin, 1730
When young and beautiful Mary Molesworth is forced to marry Robert Rochford, widowed heir to the earldom of Belfield, she finds that her idea of love is not returned. Jealous, cruel and manipulative, Robert ignores her after she has provided him with a male heir, preferring to spend his nights with his mistress. Power-hungry, Robert builds up a reputation that sees him reach for the highest positions in Ireland.
Caught in an unhappy marriage, Mary begins to grow closer to Robert’s younger brother, Arthur. Acknowledging their love for each other, they will risk everything to be together. But Robert’s revenge threatens their lives and tears them apart.
Will Mary and Arthur find a way to escape Robert’s clutches?
Based on real events, Heart of Stone is a tale of power, jealousy, imprisonment, and love, set in 1740s Ireland.
Be sure to brew yourself a lovely cuppa and settle in for a lovely convo between Mr Jackson and myself! Afterwards, kindly remember to leave your notes, comments & questions for Mr Jackson in the comment threads as he will be responding as he’s able to leave you a reply. And, hopefully this will be a Historical Drama you’ll earmark to read whilst finding out why I love these kinds of releases!
As you’ve turned being an Ancestry Sleuth into a golden chance to tell an unknown story out of your family’s own lineage, what surprised you the most about how the story started to knit together? Especially, as it seems as if the pieces of the story’s heart were primed to be told through a novelist’s perspective?
Mr Jackson responds: I first became aware of the story behind Heart of Stone some ten years ago, in an old book I found on-line about celebrated Irish women. It sounded like a story worth pursuing, and gradually the whole tale came together. I thought “Wow! This is a story worth telling. At the time, though I didn’t have the desire or skills to try to tell it.
Then I realised that the story – as it was – couldn’t be told directly. I WANTED to tell it, possibly for the sake of the protagonist’s ghosts, but I knew I would have to write what I think of as “the story of what SHOULD have happened.” Read More
Posted Monday, 23 October, 2017 by jorielov in 18th Century, Blog Tour Host, Brook Cottage Book Tours, Debut Author, Historical Fiction, Inspired by Stories, Reader Submitted Q&A
Posted Wednesday, 18 October, 2017 by jorielov Arbor Farm Press, On the Rocks, Sue Hallgarth, Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mysteries 3 Comments
Acquired Book By: I have been hosting for Poetic Book Tours for a few years now, where I am finding myself encouraged to seek out collections of poetry or incredible fiction being published through Small Trade publishers and presses. I have an Indie spirit and mentality as a writer and I appreciate finding authors who are writing creative works through Indie resources as I find Indies have a special spirit about them. It is a joy to work with Poetic Book Tours for their resilience in seeking out voices in Literature which others might overlook and thereby, increasing my own awareness of these beautiful lyrical voices in the craft.
When I realised this was the first ‘book’ in a series, I requested to receive the first book in order to understand the continuity and flow between the lead characters within the second installment. It is a personal preference of mine to read series ‘in order’ and I was blessed I could start this one at the beginning! I received a complimentary copy of “On the Rocks” direct from the publicist of Sue Hallgarth in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I wanted to read the Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mysteries:
I am unsure when I first stumbled across ‘living persons’ being amateur sleuths in Mysteries & stories of Suspense – however, ever since I was first smitten by the idea, I have taken to these kinds of stories like a duck to water! I only vaguely ‘knew of’ Willa Cather – she’s the kind of woman you might hear about in literary circles as her own legacy of stories has quite the following. However, in regards to her personal life or the adventures she had as an novelist – these are the missing gaps in my knowledge! If anything, I knew her ‘in name only’ rather than of having a biographical sketch of an idea about her person.
This is one reason I am drawn into Biographical Fiction stories – generally speaking, I lean on the branch of ‘Historical Fiction’ to chart my course through time whilst alighting in the footsteps of either novelists (such as the Brontés) or well-known figureheads (such as Eleanor Roosevelt) whilst feeling a bit attached to some of the dexterities of creative muses (such as the Jane Austen Mysteries). Throughout each story I pick up to read, I am drawn closer to the ‘person’ who lived the life either being re-transmitted through a portion of their own living hours or re-identified in a different lifestyle altogether! It makes for a fascinating jaunt through time, history and known fact!
I hadn’t fused to mind ‘where’ the story was set – coming into fuller knowledge as I sat down to read the novel, I realised it was hugged close to the Canadian Maritimes – specifically the region of the Bay of Fundy and the Fundy Isles. This is an especially lovely area where artists, artisans, writers and other creatives have found a renewing peace to create in this part of the world where life is laid back & the natural scenery etches out its own inspiration to the creator. The Bay of Fundy in recent years is a bit better known due to a hard-won battle to secure the sanctity of the waters in the North Atlantic by the conjoined efforts of the Americans, Canadians & Passamaquoddy Indians.
Realising this connection, when it came time to ‘step forward’ into Ms Hallgarth’s vision for the series, I was more than ready to lay pause on her prose and feel absorbed into this area of the Northern Hemisphere where the lights like to dance, ice meets the sea and where there is an enchantment of wonderment lit over the land. It was then, I realised I was supposed to read this series!
On the Rocks
Subtitle: A Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mystery
The year is 1929 and Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Willa Cather and her partner Edith Lewis are summering on Grand Manan, an island in the Bay of Fundy. In their cottage’s sparsely-furnished attic room, Cather is at work writing Shadows on the Rock, her tenth novel. Edith is painting watercolors from the cliffs two hundred feet above the rising tides of Whale Cove.
Out of the corner of her eye, Edith sees a body plunge from the edge of a cliff to the rocks below…. Solving the mystery, first-time novelist Sue Hallgarth’s intimate view of village politics and the goings-on of two women’s communities long lost to history is also a suspenseful and surprising crime novel. Hallgarth draws the reader into a unique retreat and an inside glimpse of the lives of a great American novelist and her talented life partner.
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Find on Book Browse
ISBN: 978-0985520007
on 13th January, 2013
Pages: 262
Published By: Arbor Farm Press
Available Formats: Paperback & Ebook
The Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mysteries:
Book One: On the Rocks
Book Two: Death Comes (Synopsis)
Converse via: #WillaCather + #CosyMysteries
About Sue Hallgarth
Sue Hallgarth is former English professor. She has written scholarly articles on Willa Cather and Edith Lewis, and Death Comes is her second book of fiction featuring the two of them. Her first book in the series On The Rocks, set in 1929 on the island of Grand Manan in New Brunswick, Canada. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | LibraryThing
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Wednesday, 18 October, 2017 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Amateur Detective, Apothecary, Art, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bootleggers & Smugglers, Canada, Canadian Maritimes, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Cosy Historical Mystery, Creative Arts, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Edith Lewis, Equality In Literature, Fundy Isles, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Naturopathic Medicine, Poetic Book Tours, Seclusion in the Natural World, Sisterhood friendships, Small Towne Fiction, Social Change, the Nineteen Hundreds, the Roaring Twenties, Village Life, Walking & Hiking Trails, Willa Cather, Women's Rights
Posted Monday, 2 October, 2017 by jorielov AJ Eversley, Self Published, The Watcher Series, Watcher 0 Comments
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a part of the blog tour for the Watcher series hosted by iRead Book Tours. I have been trying to find a way to make enroads into Dystopian Lit for a number of years, specifically every year I’ve participated in Sci Fi November, whilst outside of the annual event as well. If anything, I have found my attempts of finding Dystopian stories I can sink my teeth into and appreciate to be a bit hit/miss or false starts. When I read about this series – I thought, it’s labelled a ‘clean YA Dystopian series’ and therefore decided to ‘try once more’ and see if I can alight into a world penned in this genre. I received a complimentary copy of CARBON direct from the author AJ Eversley in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On where WATCHER leaves off and where I hoped CARBON would continue:
Where things get more interesting is what draws Kenzie to Sawyer like a moth to a flame. In one instance towards the latter quarter (or so) of the story, I started to see an insert of familiarity and in some ways a welcome explanation for a film I never could fully understand (the Matrix). Despite all the references I’ve been making – they are only minor references in both concept, idea or execution. As for me, I appreciate Eversley style and approach in telling this story far more than I appreciated the other films. In regards to the Borg, however, those were some of my favourite Next Generation episodes because it was exploring a non-traditional enemy similar to AI which was self-governing and self-evolving without human interference. My favourite episode of course was about Hugh – where Picard helped one Borg name himself and see things from ‘outside’ the collective; thereby giving him a slice of humanity he never felt he could feel. In many ways, I think Kenzie is Hugh in this story – he was set on a course he did not choose for reasons he did not fully accept as being right but followed through because it was his path to walk. It’s a complicated arc of story – of making choices in blinks of time, effecting lives outside your own and trying to sort your way through a quagmire of a future which works against every innate instinct of humanity.
-quoted from my review of WATCHER
As I left WATCHER, I was hoping CARBON would pick up close in a time-frame which would equal the momentum I had read in WATCHER; on that score, I was not disappointed. The hard part for me stepping back into this world was how much everything had ‘changed’ as soon as Sawyer had lost her humanity (she was now a Carbon) and how dearly altered Kenzie had become because in effect, the Kenzie I knew with Sawyer was dead – this was his truer state and his truer nature coming to the surface. It wasn’t easy to read from that angle because Kenzie was such a different person in WATCHER; wells, perhaps not entirely different but different enough not to be easily recognised in CARBON.
I suppose I had hoped somehow the tides would turn round for Sawyer in a way which wouldn’t feel so very oppressively dark and unbearingly brutal from the point of view, she had already lost so much in her young life – to lose more felt almost too much for her to shoulder. I was quite attached to the story within WATCHER but as you will see, as I went into the pages of CARBON, I found myself stepping ‘out’ of the story rather than feeling firmly locked inside it.
I was delayed getting back into the rhythm of the series – I was offline for a fortnight due to personal circumstances wherein I was not reading during that time period. By the time I returnt to the series, I must admit, my experiences whilst I was absent did effect my readings now, as those experiences had a profound effect on me overall. Sometimes despite trying to step outside our literary comfort zones, we find we are not able to make the leap – at least this is true in my case, as CARBON was simply not my cuppa for Sci Fi.
Carbon
Source: Author via iRead Book Tours
Sawyer has lost everything. Her family, the man she loves...her humanity. No longer a Watcher, Sawyer must now begin a journey to understand her new identity. Carbon.
With no where left to call home, and no one left to guide her, Sawyer must rely on the help of a stranger to learn who she really is now, and how to use it to her advantage. In a world where nothing is as it seems, and who to trust is a thin line between friend and foe, Sawyer will turn to the stars that have shaped her destiny long before she even knew she had one. And the man who fate has sent her.
Book two in this epic series, Carbon will answer questions you didn't even know you had. And strangers will become the only ones who can help her. Join Sawyer as the journey to save humanity continues.
Places to find the book:
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 978-1548927189
on 26th September, 2017
Pages: 312
The Watcher Series:
Converse via: #WatcherSeries, #Dystopian + #CleanReads + #YALit
About AJ Eversley
AJ Eversley is the author of the WATCHER series. A true north Canadian girl, AJ currently lives in Central Alberta with her husband and dog. When she’s not writing, she can be found binge watching Harry Potter, quoting various movies in every day conversation, and eating copious amounts of candy.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
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Posted Monday, 2 October, 2017 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Coming-Of Age, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Dystopian, Equality In Literature, Father-Daughter Relationships, Indie Author, iRead Book Tours, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Parapsychological Gifts, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Upper YA Fiction, Young Adult Fiction
Posted Wednesday, 6 September, 2017 by jorielov AJ Eversley, Self Published, The Watcher Series, Watcher 1 Comment
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a part of the blog tour for the Watcher series hosted by iRead Book Tours. I have been trying to find a way to make enroads into Dystopian Lit for a number of years, specifically every year I’ve participated in Sci Fi November, whilst outside of the annual event as well. If anything, I have found my attempts of finding Dystopian stories I can sink my teeth into and appreciate to be a bit hit/miss or false starts. When I read about this series – I thought, it’s labelled a ‘clean YA Dystopian series’ and therefore decided to ‘try once more’ and see if I can alight into a world penned in this genre. I received a complimentary copy of WATCHER direct from the author AJ Eversley in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
View the Book Trailer which helped me feel this Dystopian story might be one of the few in the genre I’d like spending time inside,…
Watcher
Source: Author via iRead Book Tours
I knew I was not alone. They would never leave until every last one of us was gone." Sawyer Russo has sworn to protect humanity, and as a Watcher she’s done just that. But the Bots and Carbons that took her city are evolving, and they start picking the Watchers off one by one. One last rescue mission will change everything. When someone betrays them, the line between friend and foe is no longer easily drawn. Sawyer made a vow, and she will fulfill it, even if it means ending the person who deceived them, no matter who it might be. It all comes down to one choice... Who can she save? And who does she have to let go?
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
ISBN: 9781544240282
on March 2017
Pages: 294
The Watcher Series:
Converse via: #WatcherSeries, #Dystopian + #CleanReads + #YALit
About AJ Eversley
AJ Eversley is the author of the WATCHER series. A true north Canadian girl, AJ currently lives in Central Alberta with her husband and dog. When she’s not writing, she can be found binge watching Harry Potter, quoting various movies in every day conversation, and eating copious amounts of candy.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Read More
Posted Wednesday, 6 September, 2017 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Coming-Of Age, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Dystopian, Equality In Literature, Father-Daughter Relationships, Indie Author, iRead Book Tours, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Parapsychological Gifts, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Upper YA Fiction, Young Adult Fiction
