Self-Published: H.H. Miller (@HHMillerBooks) 9 January, 2014
Official Author Websites: Facebook | Twitter
Converse via: #InscriptionTour
Available Formats: Trade Paperback and E-Book
Page Count: 278
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Inscription” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author H.H. Miller, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Book Synopsis:
The year is 1851 and the Grand Guard is ravaging Mainland. Arrests. Floggings. Swift executions. Twenty-year-old Caris McKay, the beautiful heiress of Oakside Manor, is sent to live with distant relations until the danger has passed. It’s no refuge, however, as Lady Granville and her scheming son plot to get their hands on Caris’s inheritance with treachery and deceit.
Soon, alarming news arrives that the ruthless Captain James Maldoro has seized Oakside and imprisoned Caris’s beloved uncle. And now he’s after her.
Caris escapes with the help of Tom Granville, the enigmatic silver-eyed heir of Thornbridge. But when a cryptic note about a hidden fortune launches them on a perilous journey across Mainland, Caris and Tom must rely on wits, courage, and their growing love for each other if they hope to survive.
Filled with adventure, intrigue, and romance, Inscription will transport you to a historically fictional world you’ll never want to leave.
Author Biography:
H. H. Miller is the author of the novel Inscription, a historically fictional romantic adventure. In real life, she’s content director at Stoke Strategy, a brand strategy firm in Seattle, Washington, where she specializes in transforming what some might call “boring” technology jargon into compelling, readable, memorable stories. Her favorite escape is Manzanita, Oregon – a place of beautiful beaches, wild storms, chilly nights around the bonfire (even in July), and time to enjoy life with her husband and three children.
For more information please visit H.H. Miller’s Facebook Page.
On how I enjoy beginning a novel:
I am not sure the rituals other readers go through when they start to delve into a novel, but for me, I like to take a bit of time coaxing myself into the narrative hidden beneath the pages of the covers! I like to note the subtle definitive descriptions of the story on either the inside flaps of hardcovers or the back-covers of soft-cover editions. I like to take a nod and a pause to read the Acknowledgements, the Dedications, the Author’s Foreword, as well as see if the writer included a Table of Contents. This last habit is a bit remiss these days, but thankfully Inscription is the exception! Quite a lot can be found about a writer and their story prior to consumption, and what I appreciate the most are all the little hidden bits you can wander around a book and find! For instance, Miller likes to leave a bit of a trace of humour and intellectual curiosity for those who like me, are always a bit on a search for interesting words and turns of phrase. To include a scientific word I had not yet seen but knew was a nibbling of a clue of sorts was the kind of folly I cherish! For you see, a quick whirl of the One Look Dictionary Search I came to denote that the word ‘lepidopterist‘ is the particular person of interest who appreciates moths & butterflies!
My Review of Inscription:
The ominous beginning of Inscription left me murmuring about the atmospheric way a novel can transport us into that humming void of forethought and regret once we begin an adventure. Miller has the instinctive nature of writing a level of intrigue into her narrative that propels you forward, whilst yearning to see what shall happen next at the same time. Her deft skill is in giving such a vivid display of well-bodied characters set amongst the backdrop of turmoil. She eludes to the devastatingly brutal eclipse of a military state of fear all the while noting the charm of an Uncle’s love for his niece. Maddox and Caris are two characters you want to stand behind, due to the fullness of their heart and character.
I personally love to see authors knit in a proper dose of moxie into young female leads. To break the barriers and reveal the unique few who lived boldly in the 1800s. Pioneers so to speak who were rebels with the cause towards equality and the freedom to choose your own destiny as a woman. Care and attention was taken to have a flushed out back-story to weave together the in-between bits of Caris’s past. I love the broad and layered strokes Miller etches into the story-line. She makes reading Inscription a delight for the imagination. I truly celebrated her choice in giving her female lead the advantage over William Granville who is far more rake than gentleman! Even denoting this, Miller envelopes him with a dash of intrigue as he foolishly cannot make the leap as to how any woman can dismiss his advances. And in that bit of self-conceit, I always mirthfully feel a twitching in knowing an electric battle of the wills shall ensue!
Caris blessedly held her head and her carriage to an astute level of calm when facing down an adversary as thick and slick as William Granville. Her disdain for his reckless behaviour and his ill-wont attitude of elite privilege was never lost on her either. In never giving him the upper hand he craved she was slowly and calculating nibbing away at his ego. A trait that served her well as the danger started to heighten and her more immediate concerns turnt to survival.
The extenuating circumstances which led Caris to Thornbridge (relatives by marriage not blood) and away from her Uncle’s estate at Oakside Manor would reappear in her life to lead her back to the starting block. The entirety of her life was properly out of balance and sync with her heart, as she was running from danger from the moment she first left her Uncle. Danger has a cheeky way of catching up with you, as though a mark of its arrival is attached to you and only when you finally unravel the full scope of the deceit can you firmly step outside its reach.
Every inch of detail is set to the rhythm of events as they are unfolding for Caris; Tom William’s long-lost brother who returned home with quite the barrage of ill-justice attached to his heels. A motley crew of two seeking to find redemption and revenge on behalf of their circumstances and situations, they travelled together towards Oakside to see what if anything had become of Caris’s home. Whilst they travelled, I felt Caris was shedding her childhood skin a bit with each click of the horses hooves. She had become aware of her independence at Thornbridge surely, yet on the road back home she started to settle into her skin and realise this for herself. Part of reading her story felt like a woman on the verge of owning her own life, emerging out of a period of respite and entering into her future a bit stronger despite the grief of her adventure.
Inscription is told in three parts, much like a play on the stage. For all the entrances and exits, you find yourself so emerged into the story you struggle to re-adjust your eyes to the reality around you. It is a story enriched by courage, faith, love, and the determined grit to overcome all odds which become stacked against you. It is not for the faint of heart in some passages, as it does ruminate about the floggings (lashings by a cat-o-nine-tails) and the grisly vigilante murder by a lawman consumed by madness; but at the core of Inscription is the plight of one woman (Caris) and one bloke (Tom) finding their true destiny. And, that dear hearts is far worth the anguish of a few passages of turmoil! I devoured this text in one sitting as I could not bear to wait to know the outcome!
On Ms. Miller’s writing style :
Ms. Miller’s writing style reminds me distinctively of Jane Austen & Charlotte Bronté as she takes the best of what I love of both women’s style of the craft. She has picked up on the subtle grace of Austen’s observational narrative and of the beguiling atmosphere of Bronte. She has writ such an alarmingly brilliant drama that each page turn meant digging deeper into the suspense of the Granville family! In this, the joy of reading Inscription truly lay as it was within the layered threads of the Granville tapestry which beheld the best bits of intrigue!
Of course, one of the most startling revelations was in finding that William was a mere apple fallen too close to the tree! His mother Lady Granville was the spitting image of Danielle’s step-mother in Ever After! Where pride fell strong towards marital wealth and how the coffers of a family were paramount towards all other pursuits. As if the notion that wealth would bring true happiness rather than the gift of love providing true joy. Miller lets her readers think hard on the thematic she explores whilst giving a well-written story to be savoured.
I cannot wait to see what Ms. Miller writes next. She is one of the self-published authors who is re-defining the bar of excellence in self-publishing. Even the copy of the final draft was free of errors from my eyes!
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Have you ever opened a book and begun to read what was inside its pages completely unaware of the story which would unfold? Only to realise that the story you are reading is writ in such a unique fashion, that your heart doesn’t want the pages to end? You want more of either this story or more titles by the author to consume next? This is how I felt as I read Inscription! It is even hard to describe *exactly* the kind of novel it is as at the heart of the story its a romance between two young twenty-somethings caught up in the middle of events that are beyond their control. Their harrowing journey is both towards each other and away from the danger others seek to see befall them. I could not take my eyes off the pages, as I loved how Miller elected to tell this story. Which book have you recently read which mirrored my own thoughts on this story?
{SOURCES: Inscription Book Cover, synopsis, tour badge, and HFVBT badge were provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and were used by permission. Book Review badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.
Comments via Twitter:
@JLovesAStory It was a joy to write Inscription, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed reading it. Thanks for your glowing review! #InscriptionTour
— Heather Miller (@HHMillerBooks) April 19, 2014
#Interview with #Author HH Miller (@HHMillerBooks) http://t.co/uLRHnTPLGj via @Layeredpages My reaction reveals how I am a #bookcheerleader!
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) April 19, 2014
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