Category: Historical Fiction

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “The Spitfire Girl: Over and Out” (Spitfire Girl series) by Fenella J Miller

Posted Sunday, 12 April, 2020 by jorielov Aria Fiction, Head of Zeus, Spitfire Girl series, The Spitfire Girl: Over and Out 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am wicked delighted to be featuring a lovely #newtomeauthor today – as I recently had the chance to select quite a few Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction novelists to be spotlighting throughout the Spring months this year – wherein I was rather delighted finding so many keenly interesting stories to start seeking out to read! These are stories which dance between Romance & Women’s Fiction – from Contemporary to Historical settings. Being an avid reader of these genres I couldn’t miss the chance to bring the JOY of discovering these lovely authors to my readers of Jorie Loves A Story!

It is my intention to start requesting these novels via my local library if they are not available in audio formats via Scribd. At the moment my library is experiencing an unprecedented sabbatical on requests which put me in a bit of a pickle as I’m an active patron whose constantly requesting purchases every month – which is why I’m simply saving my queue lists and will turn them in once the services resume. For now at least – I can champion the discoveries and the joy of finding the stories whilst hosting the blog tours!

Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract
for “The Spitfire Girl: Over and Out”:

As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!

My first interest in reading and/or listening to an audiobook story about Spitfire Girls was interested by the release by Soraya M. Lane which was “The Spitfire Girls”. You might recall I have previously spotlighted Ms Lane’s novels whilst I also hosted her during #SatBookChat. I was meant to share a review of an mp3 audiobook version of her novel “The Girls of Pearl Harbour” however my personal health during a six month block of time from Autumn 2019 to Spring 2020 prevented me continuing to finish the novel until now. It is one of the stories I have requeued to finish this April.

I decided to see if one of the novels from this series (or the whole series really!) was available via Scribd and I was pleasantly surprised to find the first book “The Spitfire Girl” was listed!

The narrator for this novel is Sarah Ovens.

We first begin by having a smart introduction to the scene as it unfolds – Ellie has just returnt home from work at the airfield – her brother is on a 24 hour pass and her parents are experiencing the rougher edges of a marriage which most likely should have ended in either separation or divorce; theirs was not a happy union. Ellie looked the part with her coveralls and the kind of shine a girl would have working all day – a conflict for her mother who’d prefer a girl who looked less like a bloke and more dainty like herself.

You could feel the disapproving eye in Ellie’s mother – however, the joy for Ellie was the fact her brother was home, the fact he brought a friend notwithstanding and having to change for dinner was as much of a chore for Ellie as it were for her father! They both had a smart exchange before moving into their respective rooms – by the time we rejoined the brother and the mother, the sampler was nearly expiring and I felt it was quite a shame as I was already keenly locked into the drama as it was unfolding! Proving how thankful I am for samplers and how much I truly admire the work of narrators to bring to life the work of an author.

In regards to the narrator directly:

I found Ms Oven’s narration to be a smashingly classic voice for this kind of Saga – there is a particularly familiar intonation by narrators whose voices come from similar regions and as soon as I heard her voice narrating this story, I felt immediately drawn to Ellie and her family! I liked how she altered her voice between the genders – how her voice felt assured as a male and strong as a woman – the men of course in the story have quite a bit to contend with Ellie’s Mum and that of course came through by how she was narrating their parts. Her father seemed resigned to it and her brother was a bit more optimistic but Ellie herself was voiced with resignation at not wanting to humour her Mum; in any capacity! I was jolly happy with the sampler and was keen curious to finish off the story – as you just feel pulled into it!

Did I grab your eye and attention?

Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.

The Spitfire Girl: Over and Out
Subtitle: Is Ellie ready to fly one last time?
by Fenella J. Miller

All's fair in love and war for First Officer Ellie as she takes to the skies yet again in the final installment of Fenella Miller's Spitfire Girl series.

1943, White Waltham.

As Italy surrenders and victory looms on the horizon, Ellie's doing what she does best – flying. And this time, she's rising to the sky in four-engined Halifaxes. Determined to keep doing her bit, Ellie's successes in the airfield mount but so do tensions with her new beau, Squadron Leader Jack Reynolds.

When Ellie and Jack find their dream home, they discover they've bought more than they bargained for. With a cellar full of secrets, Jack and Ellie must stand united in the face of mystery, war and loss. And as family circumstance threatens to tear them apart, Ellie and Jack are stronger than ever.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B0844S8B64

Published by Aria Fiction

on 19th March, 2020

The Spitfire Girl series:

The Spitfire Girl (Book One)

The Spitfire Girl in the Skies (Book Two)

A Wedding for the Spitfire Girl (Book Three)

The Spitfire Girl: Over & Out (Book Four) ← final installment!

Published By: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)
a Digital First imprint of Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)

Available Formats: This is a Digital First Release

Converse via: #TheSpitfireGirl, #HistoricalFiction or #HistFic Read More

Posted Sunday, 12 April, 2020 by jorielov in Aftermath of World War II, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Head of Zeus, Historical Fiction, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “Home to the Hills” by Dee Yates

Posted Friday, 27 March, 2020 by jorielov Aria Fiction, Dee Yates, Head of Zeus, Home to the Hills 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract
for “Home to the Hills”:

As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!

I have had a penchant of interest regarding war dramas for quite a long while now – however, my interest in reading them has altered slightly from the kinds I used to read in the past. I have been purposely trying to seek out stories about the homefront and/or stories set round a particular set of circumstances a character must overcome rather than strictly seeking out war dramas which are focusing more on the battle of the war itself. I felt for awhile I needed to re-address how I wanted to read war dramas as a lot of the time, whenever I would try to tuck into a traditional war drama – I would start to notice myself pulling out of the context of the setting as I felt I had finally reached the apex of no return.

Being that I still *love!* reading stories set during the war era, I’ve happily re-affirmed this love of fiction by re-finding stories which are an joy to be read. This is how I came to find Home to the Hills which I felt had a very inspiring premise in which I could enjoy getting invested into reading. Especially as this novel is set just after the war ended – of how people had to pick up their lives, forge ahead and find a way to re-define how they were going to live now that peacetime had become restored. You can feel the intensity of their choices – how determined they were to survive in this new environment but also, how heartwarming it would be to realise that they had to begin anew – without knowing what the future would yield.

Did I grab your eye and attention?

Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.

Home to the Hills
Subtitle: After the war, they must start afresh
by Dee Yates

1945.

After the Second World War, Ellen and her daughter Netta make the journey from Germany back to Scotland. Nestled in the hills of the Southern Uplands is the farm where Ellen grew up – the home she left to be with the only man she's ever loved. She is still haunted by her memories... and the secrets she dare not share with anyone.

Having grown up in Freiburg, farm life is new and exciting to Netta. Determined to be useful, she offers to help new shepherd, Andrew Cameron. But doing so might put her bruised heart at risk... The war took so much from Ellen and Netta. But maybe now the sanctuary of the hills can offer them the hope of a new beginning.

A heartwrenching Scottish saga, perfect for fans of Sheila Jeffries and Katie Flynn.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B0844S8B64

Published by Aria Fiction

on 19th March, 2020

Published By: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)
a Digital First imprint of Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)

Available Formats: This is a Digital First Release

Converse via: #HomeToTheHills, #HistoricalFiction or #HistFic Read More

Posted Friday, 27 March, 2020 by jorielov in Aftermath of World War II, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Head of Zeus, Historical Fiction, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Author Interview | In conversation discussing “The Lost History of Dreams” with Kris Waldherr taking us into her research and inspiration behind the topics explored in the novel!

Posted Wednesday, 25 March, 2020 by jorielov Atria Books, Kris Waldherr, Simon & Schuster, The Lost History of Dreams 1 Comment

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I have a wonderfully wicked surprise for you! This morning, I am featuring an author I was meant to read when this novel first published – as the publisher sent me an ARC copy of the novel. However, due to health afflictions & life as it evolved that particular year, I unfortunately never had the chance to finish reading it! Shifting forward – I put in a request for the audiobook at my regional library which was accepted and for this lovely blog tour, I not only resumed whence I had left off with the story *but!* I also listened to the audiobook version my library thankfully purchased for me!

Mind – the audiobook is quite popular and I had to wait for it to come back round to me in order to complete it for this tour, as well! I am thankful I originally knew about it via the publisher as it made accepting hosting this blog tour for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours quite a bit easier!

The reason reading ”The Lost History of Dreams” appealled to me:

After reading “Once Upon A River”, I felt I have a good knowledge of the direction this Gothic tale might spin and it is such a unique premise, I felt it would be an interesting and captivating read. I wish there had been a Discussion Guide or Author Interview attached to this page for the book as I thoroughly enjoyed reading those for the former title. However, what was revealled seemed to fit my reading tastes as best as I could tell.

Being an appreciator of Forensic stories – either through medical examiner dramas on television such as Quincy, M.E.; Crossing Jordan; Murdoch Mysteries; NCIS & NCIS: NOLA or through narrative fiction such as the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber – I am drawn into stories which centre round the examination of the dead. This is one of two stories I found by #newtomeauthors this year – the second, is “The Undertaker’s Assistant” by Amanda Skenandore – whilst I look forward to continuing my readings of the Lady Darby series as well.

This particular story offered an interesting approach to the context of the subject being explored – as it is not through the lens of the ME we’re focusing through but rather the photographer of the dead instead. Quite a curious leap I felt, as I knew there were photographs of the 19th Century which parlayed into this particular field – of where families wanted an after death reminder of the person they loved – the photographs in this instance are not for the examination of a crime or the cause of the deceased’s demise but rather a fitting tribute to the person who once lived.

In this instance, I felt Waldherr had a wickedly original plot and I was most compelled to seek it out to read! I was very grateful to be amongst the book bloggers who received this novel and I couldn’t wait to uncover the mysterious answers to the unique questions which would become alive as I read the story!

The Lost History of Dreams
by Kris Waldherr
Source: Direct from Publisher, Scribd | Audiobook Subscription
Narrator: Fiona Hardingham, Matthew Lloyd Davies

All love stories are ghost stories in disguise.

When famed Byronesque poet Hugh de Bonne is discovered dead of a heart attack in his bath one morning, his cousin Robert Highstead, a historian turned post-mortem photographer, is charged with a simple task: transport Hugh’s remains for burial in a chapel. This chapel, a stained glass folly set on the moors of Shropshire, was built by de Bonne sixteen years earlier to house the remains of his beloved wife and muse, Ada. Since then, the chapel has been locked and abandoned, a pilgrimage site for the rabid fans of de Bonne’s last book, The Lost History of Dreams.

However, Ada’s grief-stricken niece refuses to open the glass chapel for Robert unless he agrees to her bargain: before he can lay Hugh to rest, Robert must record Isabelle’s story of Ada and Hugh’s ill-fated marriage over the course of five nights.

As the mystery of Ada and Hugh’s relationship unfolds, so does the secret behind Robert’s own marriage—including that of his fragile wife, Sida, who has not been the same since the tragic accident three years ago, and the origins of his own morbid profession that has him seeing things he shouldn’t—things from beyond the grave.

Kris Waldherr effortlessly spins a sweeping and atmospheric gothic mystery about love and loss that blurs the line between the past and the present, truth and fiction, and ultimately, life and death.

Genres: Crime Fiction, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781982101015

ASIN: B07L3D1L3F

Published by Atria Books

on 9th April, 2019

Format: Audiobook | Digital, Paperback ARC

Length: 12 hours and 12 minutes (unabridged)

Published By: Published By: Atria Books (@AtriaBooks)
{imprint of} Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster)

Converse via: #LostHistoryOfDreams, #HistNov and #HistFic
+ #Gothic #HistoricalMystery or #GothicSuspense
Available Formats: Hardcover, Audiobook & Ebook

About Kris Waldherr

Kris Waldherr is an award-winning author, illustrator, and designer. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, and her fiction has been awarded with fellowships by the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts and a reading grant by Poets & Writers. Kris Waldherr works and lives in Brooklyn in a Victorian-era house with her husband, the anthropologist-curator Thomas Ross Miller, and their young daughter.

Photo Credit: Robert Presutti

Posted Wednesday, 25 March, 2020 by jorielov in 19th Century, ARC | Galley Copy, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Thriller Suspense, Literary Fiction, Reader Submitted Author Interview, the Victorian era

Author Interview | In conversation discussing Titanic and setting a #HistRom inside the historical background of its living history as we converse about Jina Bacarr’s newest Historical novel “The Runaway Girl”!

Posted Thursday, 19 March, 2020 by jorielov Boldwood Books, Christmas Once Again, Jina Bacarr, The Runaway Girl 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

At the close of [2019] I had the pleasure of JOY reading a delightful war drama entitled “Christmas Once Again” – this was a time travelling Historical Romance wherein the method of travel was through the component of a ‘train’. I joyfully talked extensively about this during my #SatBookChat whilst I happily also engaged with my readers talking about the finer points of what made this Historical Romance such a beautifully evocative read! Meanwhile – it was a wicked sweet joy to highlight today’s new release “The Runaway Girl” on my #TopTenTuesday List for Most Anticipated Reads for 2020.

When it comes to reading Historical Romances – I happen to *love!* when a writer captures the truer heart and atmosphere ‘behind’ the romance wherein we get to peer into History’s window and seek out the era of the age in which these characters are alive. We get to understand the breadth of their living realities whilst gaining a foothold into how they are living their lives with the shadow of historical events behind them. Whenever a writer can intersect History with a compelling realistic #HistRom, I am definitely the kind of reader who is oft in search of their collective works because I want to consistently reside in their stories!

This is why when I first learnt about “Christmas Once Again” & “The Runaway Girl” – I knew I wanted those to be purchase requests at my local library. Not just for the joy of my own readerly pleasures but to help other patrons in my local community find inspiration out of a story I personally *loved!* absorbing! You see, I didn’t just read “Christmas Once Again” – I felt convinced I had stepped through its theshold and lived those hours as if I had inhabited the characters directly. I love feeling that pull of narrative – where you are so wholly engaged into a story it doesn’t feel fictional but a realistic impression of a life which is still being lived. Literature is powerful that way and whenever you can find Historical voices of the craft pulling us into the windows of where history and human interest stories can intersect is a wicked wonderful way to spend your readerly hours!

Thus, when I first hear a whispering about “The Runaway Girl” – of how this story was anchoured to Titanic and my own literary and science interest in Titanic – as I loved learning the real-life story of how Titanic was discovered on the ocean floor and the journey of its recovery – I knew immediately that I wanted to live inside this new novel! There is something alluring about Titanic – not the tragedy of how everyone died but how hard they fought to survive – how even in the direness of their hours as the sinking was erasing the calm of where they felt they would be embarking on a new life abroad was instead replacing it with a darkness of uncertainity – they still rallied, they fought the ocean and they tried to make peace with their fate.

At least this is what I observed and understood whilst researching Titanic and of having taking the walking exhibit where I had a third class ticket where someone had gone down with the ship. It was a harrowing walk through because of the way they told the story but also how they left you with haunting reminders of the fragilty of our lives and the uncertain balance of how we all are living with uncertain futures. A sombering contemplation on a good year and a intuitive one during a world crisis.

There is so much I love about the premise of “The Runaway Girl” and it is a pleasure of absolute for me to host my final blog tour hosted by the publisher Boldwood Books to go out with a bit of a signal boost on this novel and a wicked engaging conversation with Ms Bacarr – wherein through our conversation you’ll find notations about the story, her process of writing and the allure of Historical Fiction by a writer as bemused about her own stories & characters as the reader behind Jorie Loves A Story!

This marks my third of three featured posts I’ve be sharing on behalf of Boldwood Books this Spring, 2020. I recently interviewed Jessica Redland on behalf of her Whitsborough Bay series as well as having featured Rosie Clarke to begin this series.

Brew yourself a lovely cuppa

and journey back to Titanic with us today as we uncover “The Runaway Girl”!

The stories I’m keenly intrigued & excited about by Ms Bacarr:

Christmas Once Again (see also Review)

The Runaway Girl (listed as one of my Top Anticipated Reads of 2020!)

Published by: Boldwood Books (@BoldwoodBooks)

Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #HistoricalRomance or #HistRom
as well as #Titanic and #JinaBacarr

Posted Thursday, 19 March, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Romance Fiction

Book Spotlight | featuring an author Q&A with Jessica Redland about her Whitsborough Bay series! Including audio extracts from Books 2-4!

Posted Tuesday, 17 March, 2020 by jorielov Boldwood Books, Coming Home to Seashell Cottage, Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove, Jessica Redland, Making Wishes at Bay View, New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms, Whitsborough Bay series 1 Comment

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As you know, I love reading Romance & Women’s Fiction stories – I like to hug into series as well which allow you to get to know the characters of a small towne setting wherein you get to interact with everyone in the community and have a lovely feel for the towne itself. Settings like those are amongst my favourites because of the community atmosphere and the ways in which the community itself will band together whenever someone needs assistance. I also like seeing how interconnected small townes are and of course, the natural environs which are surrounding them.

When it comes to this particular series – what first drew me towards wanting to interview the author is the fact it is set near water as those townes are especially keen to visit in stories as the whole sequencing of time is at a different pace than one that would normally be the rhythm of a series set round a larger city. I definitely wanted to ask about how the writer wrote the finer points of the setting – how we might even recognise the IRL towne it is named after and is thereby a composite setting of where people actually live whilst trying to gain a bit of an overview of the series, too.

I’d be curious to learn what kinds of series within either Romance or Women’s Fiction draws your eye when it comes to Contemporaries and what gets you excited if a towne is set by the sea? Is it the setting itself, the pace of living or something more imploring about small towne life that draws you into these kinds of stories overall?

You’ll find extracts from three of the stories in this series attached to this post – which cleverly are not text extracts but rather extracts being featured via YT. These are taken from the audiobook editions of the novels and give you a bit of a glimpse at the narrator’s style of performance whilst also giving you a bit of a sampler of the stories themselves.

This marks my second of three featured posts I’ll be sharing on behalf of Boldwood Books this Spring, 2020. I will be interviewing Jina Bacarr on behalf of her new release “The Runaway Girl” which is dramatic Historical set round Titanic (listed as one of my most anticipated reads for 2020) as well as having featured Rosie Clarke to begin this series.

Brew yourself a lovely cuppa

and enjoy what is revealled about the Whitsborough Bay series!

Whitsborough Bay series: