Category: Jorie Loves A Story

#HarlequinHeartwarming Book Review | “Second Chance for the Single Dad” (Pacific Cove Romance, Book Four) by Carol Ross

Posted Thursday, 9 April, 2020 by jorielov Carol Ross, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, Pacific Cove Romance series, Second Chance for the Single Dad 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquiried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. This is how I came to love discovering the Harlequin Heartwarming authors & series as much as it has been an honour to regularly request INSPY stories and authors. Whenever I host for Prism, I know I am in for an uplifting read and a journey into the stories which give me a lot of joy to find in my readerly queue of #nextreads. It is an honour to be a part of their team of book bloggers.

I received a complimentary copy of “Second Chance for the Single Dad” direct from author Carol Ross in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I love reading Carol Ross & Harlequin Heartwarming novelists:

You might have caught my #TopTenTuesday recently where I disclosed how much I personally LOVE reading Harlequin Heartwarming novelists – so much so, I felt they need to be championed more often for the lovely stories they are writing for us due to how wickedly enjoyable they are to be read! I know I am one of their dedicated readers whose in full appreciation for their style of crafting Contemporary Romances & giving us characters, settings, and series we find wicked addictive whilst blessedly #unputdownable!

Of all the lovelies I spoke about on that particular post and s/o of #booklove + #bookjoy – Carol Ross by far is the one author I’ve happily had the opportunities to read the most frequently! I have strong pulls of the heart for both her collaborative serial (which has a *sequel!* coming Summer, 2020!) Return of the #BlackwellBrothers (a tag you can happily follow in the twitterverse) and for her small towne series Seasons of Alaska – both of which filled my [2019] will hours of bookish joyfulness!

I regularly express gratitude to Prism Book Tours for helping me become introduced with Harlequin Heartwarming and for inspiring me to fetch their stories regularly through inter-library loans at my local library and/or borrowing directly from a reciprocal library which has a few of their authors in their card catalogue! In future, I’ll be ‘filling in gaps’ of my personal library and in my reading queues by frequenting Thrift Books online as I found they are one of the best resources for purchasing these novels second hand which makes collecting them fit my book buying budget!

I spent my 6th Blogoversary on Jorie Loves A Story lamenting about my love for Ms Ross’s Seasons of Alaska series and now that I’ve just celebrated my 7th Blogoversary on Jorie Loves A Story – it is a wonderful New Year of reading Harlequin Heartwarming and championing the authors like Ms Ross who bring my bookish life so much lovely joyful respite into my readerly life! I am thankful I can spend Spring reading more Heartwarming novels and I have a bit of a happy bit of news to reveal about how I’ve booked my first Heartwarming #SatBookChat this Autumn, 2020 as well! Scroll all the way down for the happy news!

Second Chance for the Single Dad
by Carol Ross
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

She’ll save him a dance…
…if he follows his heart.

Dance teacher Camile Wynn has a new student. Reclusive Rhys McGrath is learning to waltz so he can take his orphaned niece to a father-daughter dance. Camile is surprised by her connection with him, but there’s a generous heart behind Rhys’s awkward exterior. When she learns Rhys could lose custody of his niece, Camile goes behind his back to help him…but will her lies end up hurting him instead?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335889621

Also by this author: The Rancher's Twins, Mountains Apart, A Case for Forgiveness, If Not for a Bee, A Family Like Hannah's, Bachelor Remedy, In the Doctor's Arms, Keeping Her Close, Series Spotlight w/ Notes: Return of the Blackwell Brothers, Catching Mr Right, The Secret Santa Project, His Hometown Yuletide Vow

Also in this series: Keeping Her Close

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 3rd March, 2020

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Pages: 377

Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin

A bit of a note about Rhys McGrath (the lead character)

Although I first suspected Second Chance for the Single Dad was part of Ross’s series Pacific Cove, I couldn’t get a lead-line on this online. The only clue I did uncover is from the novel itself wherein Ms Ross acknowledged she wanted to involve a story about Rhys after having written Keeping Her Close. Thereby, I am uncertain if this is considered ‘the next’ installment of that series or simply a spin-off wherein a character receives their own storyline. Until I finally sorted out this is part of Pacific Cove and I need to update my listing for the series itself – as previously I didn’t get the same information about it! *Whew!* Now I have more books to gather from my favourite online used book shoppe!

Pacific Cove Romance series:

Christmas in the Cove (Book One)

Summer at the Shore (Book Two)

→ Keeping Her Close (Book Three) → *lightbulb!* its the third book! (see also Review)

Second Chance for the Single Dad (Book Four)

Formats Available: Paperback* and Ebook

*Harlequin has the luxury of offering Regular, Large & Larger Print editions which I personally can attest are lovely to be reading! Especially after a migraine or when my eyes are fatigued.

Converse on Twitter via: #ContemporaryRomance & #HarlequinHeartwarming

This story received my award for Best Contemporary Romance.

About Carol Ross

USA Today bestselling author Carol Ross grew up in small town America right between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains, in a place where you can go deep sea fishing in the morning and then hit the ski slopes the same afternoon. The daughter of what is now known as free range parents, she developed a love of the outdoors at a very early age.

As a writer, Carol loves to breathe the life she has lived into the characters she creates, grateful for the “research material” that every questionable decision, adrenaline-charged misstep, and near-death experience has provided.

Posted Thursday, 9 April, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Contemporary Romance, Family Life, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Life Shift, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Single Fathers, Small Towne Fiction

Author Q&A | in conversation with #LoveINSPIRED Suspense novelist Darlene L. Turner discussing her newest novel “Border Breach”!

Posted Saturday, 4 April, 2020 by jorielov Border Breach, Harlequin Books, HarperCollins Publishers, Love Inspired Suspense (imprint) Harlequin 1 Comment

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might be aware of my *slight!* addiction to reading #LoveINSPIRED Suspense novels?!

I generally gush over this imprint & the authors who pen the stories being published by Love Inspired during the Summer – specifically during *July!* as there is an INSPY readathon I’ve found I love to join which is a celebration of INSPY Lit wherein it is the kind of readathon where you can read at your own pace whilst marking off certain goals which allow you to put your hat into the giveaways which run all month long enabling you to potentially win a few new books by INSPY authors you might not have read as of yet! For me, its a win-win – as I love celebrating INSPY authors and I love reading Love Inspired! (big smiles)

Only a few times as a book blogger I’ve had the proper chance to champion the authors of this imprint by hosting one of their lovely blog tours. One in particular I was able to read & review – which was “No Safe Place” by Sherri Shackelford for Prism Book Tours. Thus, when I saw the “Border Breach” tour was accepting bloggers who wanted to interview the author – I knew I had to sign on as a potential host as next to reading the books, I love being able to interact with the authors directly!

I was happily selected to be a featured stop on the Border Breach blog tour! You might have previously seen an announcement of this new partnership during one of my Sunday Posts wherein I was sharing updates about new blogging and influencer opportunities I am undertaking this New Year, 2020.

Let’s talk moment about why I *love!* Love Inspired Suspense and the kinds of stories and/or series I’ve had the joy of discovering as I read my way through their backlist and frontlist titles! As this has become a bit of a passion project of joy between Mum and I – we love gathering new books by Love Inspired Suspense authors we’ve previously read or are curiously wanting to be reading next – and by ‘new’ books, I’m referring to us giving the books a bit more love themselves as the books are gently used and/or previously loved copies we’ve found via our local used book resources. These books sometimes have their spines damaged but the pages inside are clean and crisp and/or they are lovingly read so many times the pages feel textually touched by the many different readers who’ve found them before us!

Originally, I wanted to find a way for Mum to have a small break on her 12 hours shifts – as she’s in Home Health working with seniors and during the early years of my Dad’s stroke recovery she was working round the clock and on a seven day cycle whilst I was Dad’s caregiver helping him with his needs post-stroke (this was throughout 2017). I knew she loved reading the short novellas and novels from the previous publisher we both enjoyed for INSPY Fiction – which was known as Heartsong Presents – this predates the Love Inspired imprints by Harlequin! Knowing this – I thought maybe she might like a break from reading Contemporary & Historical traditional INSPY narratives and suggested she give Love Inspired Suspense a bit of a go!

The result was smashing as we both found a new imprint to LOVE reading together whilst we were discovering authors like Elizabeth Goddard (Mum’s top favourite), Laura Scott, Susan Sleeman (Mum enjoys her stories a bit more than I do), Lisa Harris, Lenora Worth and several others as we move in and out of their mini-series for Love Inspired Suspense and read their one-offs as well which are not serialised. Each time we find a new story or a new series – we get wicked giddy – wondering if it will be a new beloved author! For a good example – it is the Callahan Confidential series we both gush over the most (writ by Laura Scott) when it comes to getting the chance to tag team reading one of the series!

So you can understand why I was wicked thankful to be selected for this lovely blog tour! I was delighted having the chance to interview one of the authors and I am hoping to find a copy of her novel “Border Breach” at some point in the near future as it would be a delight of joy to read the book after hosting her interview! For now, I hope I’ve tempted you with a bit of curiosity about these Romantic Suspense novelists and their stories which are giving us more wicked good reads as a Mum and daughter reading team!

And, don’t forget this blog book tour is hosting a giveaway if you’re following the tour route!

Border Breach
by Darlene L. Turner

When drugs are smuggled across the border it’s their duty to stop the culprits…at any cost.

Forming a joint task force, Canada border officer Kaylin Poirier and police constable Hudson Steeves have one objective: take down a drug-smuggling ring trying to sell a new lethal product. But when the smugglers come after Kaylin and Hudson, this mission becomes more than just a job. Can they live long enough to solve the case?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Suspense

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335402776

Published by Love INSPIRED

on 1st April, 2020

Available formats: Ebook, Trade Paperback and Large Print

Converse via: #LoveINSPIREDSuspense, #LoveINSPIRED and #Suspense
as well as #INSPYRomance, #RomanticSuspense and #ChristianFiction

Posted Saturday, 4 April, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Contemporary Romance, JustRead Publicity Tours, Reader Submitted Q&A

#IndieApril Blog Book Tour | INSPY Contemporary Romance realistically authentic and humbling honest in its scope is found within the pages of “Formula for a Perfect Life” by Christy Hayes

Posted Friday, 3 April, 2020 by jorielov CAH LLC, Christy Hayes, Formula for a Perfect Life 2 Comments

I received a complimentary copy of “Formula for a Perfect Life” direct from author Christy Hayes in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I LOVE reading INSPY, how this novel found me & why I needed to read it now:

One of the blessings I’ve had as a hostess with PRISM is being able to seek out Indie INSPY Contemporary novelists who are writing compelling entries in today’s INSPY Market. Being a hybrid reader – of both mainstream & INSPY stories, I’ve had my eye on both areas of literature since I was quite young as I danced through genres and stories of interest. It wasn’t until I was an adult where I fashioned an interest in INSPY Non-Fiction, however, in the earlier years – I had a soft spot in my heart for INSPY Historical Romance. It took a bit of time further, into my twenties and thirties to seek out the Contemporaries which truly stole my heart – in fact, my blog Jorie Loves A Story began on a note of joy having read my first Dee Henderson novel past the series which made her infamous – wherein I had the blissitude to discuss what this new series of hers was giving readers who loved edgy Crime dramas in an INSPY lit world.

I even spent my fifth blogversary celebrating an INSPY Contemporary novelist I loved discovering that particular year whilst as I embark on my 7th Year (as my 7th Blogoversary was officially the 31st of March, 2020; more on this epic milestone is forthcoming this April) as a Book Blogger it is a pleasure of joy to begin marking my readerly progress this #IndieApril not only in continued celebration of reading Indie stories (both Contemporary & Historical) as well as moving through Fiction to Non-Fiction stories of interest but to focus on the Indie side of the ledger, as well! I found a few different blogosphere events which are going to be championing Indie Authors throughout the month of April – whilst it is true to my own bookish heart to help send up a signal flare of joyfulness on their behalf.

As the month starts to get underway, you’ll find loads of lovely Indie stories being showcased (both INSPY & mainstream) as well as different kinds of story-tellers – such as unique story narratives which do not fit into a particular box of style. This Friday, I have the pleasure of talking about “Formula for a Prefect Life” which I was able to read *after!* my parents’ dual medical emergencies in March – a period of grace and reflective pause, where only the story and the characters within their chapters occupied my thoughts. I needed the respite and the re-alignment to rejoin the bookish world – as my nerves and my emotions were strained, taxed and blighted against how quickly our lives can blink into an emergency and how dearly we must rely on emergency crews to aide our loved ones.

I believe this novel found me – as there are two key films that came bursting back to memory when I first read the premise about the unexpected pregnancy in the premise of this story – the first of course, is the film I saw as a ten year old captivated by the three bachelors who were smitten by a little girl named Mary in “Three Men & a Baby” which became a familial classic in its own right throughout my childhood and of which graced me with a sequel. The second of course, is “Fool’s Rush In” wherein Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry are the quintessential couple who are completely head over heels in love but unfortunately do not realise it until its nearly too late to savage their marriage!

It was my love of those two films which captured my eye to read “Formula for a Perfect Life” and to see what was going to await me as I took on the adventure of settling into the life and story of Kayla and Ben!

Formula for a Perfect Life
by Christy Hayes
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

Two practical strangers. One fateful night. Two pink lines.

College senior and obsessive romantic Kayla Cummings' dreams of a storybook life are spun off course by an unplanned pregnancy after a one-night stand with her secret crush. Devastated, Kayla turns to her roommates and best friends for advice. No matter what she decides, no matter how deeply embarrassed, she has to tell the father.

Ben Strickland’s future is written in stone—as long as he gets a decent score on the Law School Admission Test. Feeling pressure from all sides, Ben struggles to juggle his upcoming finals, another shot at the LSAT, and his needy girlfriend Darcy. When the girl he spent a memorable night with weeks ago shows up at his doorstep pregnant, his already chaotic life spins out of control.

With the clock ticking, decisions to make, and a boatload of people to disappoint, Ben and Kayla embark on a journey neither anticipated—a journey where falling in love might be the biggest surprise of all. But when old hurts and buried secrets pose a greater threat to their future than impending parenthood, will Ben and Kayla go their separate ways or forge a new path to happy ever after?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction, Sweet Romance, New Adult Fiction, Romance Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy (Rom Com), Motherhood | Parenthood

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781625720184

Also by this author: Fancy Meeting You Here

Published by CAH LLC

on 19th February, 2020

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 323

This is a self-published novel by CAH LLC

Converse via: #FormulaForAPerfectLife, #ContemporaryRomance & #INSPYRomance
as well as #ChristianRomance, #IndieAuthor/s, #FPLPrism and #ChristyHayes

This story received my award for Best Contemporary New Adult Romance.

About Christy Hayes

Christy Hayes lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and dogs. Christy writes Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance, Christian Romance, and Women's Fiction. When not writing, she’s reading, walking dogs, or stalking her college-aged kids on social media.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#ArmedWithABingo 2020
#IndieApril 2020

Posted Friday, 3 April, 2020 by jorielov in 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Child out of Wedlock, Coming-Of Age, Contemporary Romance, Family Drama, Family Life, Inheritance & Identity, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Life Shift, Modern Day, New Adult Fiction, Post-911 (11th September 2001), Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction, Sisterhood friendships, Sweet Romance, Unexpected Pregnancy, Women's Fiction, Women's Health, Women's Right to Choose (Health Care Rights)

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

#MiddleGradeMarch Audiobook Review | “Mary’s Song” (Book One: the Dream Horse Adventures series) by Susan Count, narrated by Caitlin Cavannaugh

Posted Wednesday, 25 March, 2020 by jorielov (Narrator) Caitlin Cavannaugh, Dream Horse Adventures series, Hastings Creations Group, Mary's Song, Susan Count 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I had to take a leave of absence hosting for this touring company in [2015] whilst I worked towards finding better balance in my blogging and personal life. I returnt to hosting for Lola’s Book Tours in [2018] before having to take a small hiatus from requesting future blog tours for a second time. By [2020] as my health afflictions from 2018/19 started to recede I realised I could start to host for her authors with better confidence in being able to participate on the tours themselves. Thereby it was with the Dream Horse Adventures series I decided to mark my return and was quite thankful this was a series she was celebrating through her touring company.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Mary’s Song” direct from the author Susan Court in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

In case you missed my Series Spotlight, let me re-share why this series appealled to me:

Let’s talk about how important *horses!* and *horse dramas!* were to Jorie when she was younger – as there came a point in my childhood where I was truly motivated and dedicated to learning Dressage, natural horsemanship, ethical care for horses and I had a dedicated eye for #horsefiction wherein I was either traversing alongside cowboys as they took wagons west into a new frontier or I was curled up inside the Children’s series of Thoroughbred, The Saddle Club and/or The Black Stallion (the series).

I could relate to these series because the lead characters had a heart for horses which mirrored my own heart and thoughts about how to be an ethically minded Equestrian whilst fusing your passion into dedicated training. I had the pleasure of riding retired thoroughbreds as the barns in which I took lessons had these available as schooling horses as thoroughbreds in order to have a happier retired life must be retrained into a new skill set. Dressage and/or Endurance racing is quite common as they expell so much energy and require a lot of focused pursuits to feel happy in of themselves.

I never lost my connection to horses, #horsefiction or horse dramas – by book, motion picture nor television series – I’ve come across more than a few and my top favourites are still: The Man From Snowy River (1982), Return to Snowy River (1988), The Black Stallion (film, 1979), The Black Stallion (Canadian tv series, 1990-93), A Horse for Danny (1995), Virginia’s Run (2002), Hildago (2004), The Horse Whisperer (film only 1998, not the ~~book~~), The Long Shot (2004), Dreamer (2005), Flicka (2006), SeaBiscuit (2003), Secretariat (2010) and the Canadian tv series “Heartland” (2007-current) to name a few. One of the more dramatic entries of horse fiction as an adult reader was my readings of the at-risk (foster care) youth and the situations involving their placements (as they are hard to place) within the novel “The Language of Hoofbeats” which I found to be #unputdownable for its realism and capacity to interconnect the truth about today’s foster youth.

Whenever I come across a new series in either MG or YA Lit, I get quite excited as there is a part of my bookish heart where I hope these never lose favour with children and that today’s child can grow up in the wonderment of horse culture and Equestrian experiences as there is something magically beautiful about connecting to a horse and being connected to them as you ride together.

This is why I was truly excited to send up a boost of a signal flare to announce this series on Jorie Loves A Story – hopefully letting my fellow readers, book bloggers & followers alike know about a series like this in case they know of a boy or girl who are growing up with a fascination about horses themselves!

Mary's Song
Subtitle: Dream Horse Adventures Book One
by Susan Count
Source: Author via Lola's Blog Tours
Narrator: Caitlin Cavannaugh

Mary's Song is completely independent of the three Selah books. It is the story of Selah's grandmother.

A young artist falls in love with a foal that is lame, just like her. The expensive surgery the foal needs has little chance to correct the problem. Still Mary plots and conspires to raise money to save the horse, even as time runs out. She sacrifices what she holds dear - the trust of her papa, to gain her heart's desire. But she could lose everything in her struggle to save the foal.

Genres: Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Children's Literature, Middle Grade, Equestrian Fiction, Horse Drama

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780997088335

ASIN: B07Y2GVYSY

Also by this author: Mary's Song (Book Spotlight), Selah's Sweet Dream (Book Spotlight), Selah's Painted Dream (Book Spotlight), Selah's Stolen Dream (Book Spotlight), Selah's Sweet Dream

Also in this series: Selah's Sweet Dream

Published by Hastings Creations Group

on 20th September, 2018

Format: Audiobook | Digital

Length: 3 hours and 40 minutes (unabridged)

The Dream Horse Adventures series: