Posted Tuesday, 30 June, 2015 by jorielov Kamy Wicoff, She Writes Press, Spark Points Studio LLC, Wishful Thinking 0 Comments
I quite happily am spending Summer soaking through the lovely discoveries I am making through the annual BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge! This particular Summer challenge has become quite dear to me due to how wicked lovely my local library has been in giving me an added layer of joy whilst BookSparks has coordinated the blog tours attached to the reading challenge in such a way to continue to *surprise!* me by finding books arriving by Post I was not even sure would be posted! (full story revealed on this post)
This marks my second review out of ten, and although I was originally meant to post my ruminations on Monday, the 29th of June, I needed the extra hours to fully immerse myself into Wishful Thinking! Partially due to a slow-shift back into reading after my illness and partially due to a *major!* upgrade my blog undertook over the weekend yielding to a few wonky tech issues that left me unable to blog.
My next review for #SRC2015 was meant to appear on Thursday, however, I believe it will be closer to Saturday, as I equally need more time to fully embrace my next summer read! I am hoping after I post #SRC2015 No.3, I’ll be back on track with my pre-booked schedule!
It was such a joy to snuggle into this novel – it nearly felt autobiographical, too! Wicoff is definitely an author I want to keep my eyes on and continue to see where her bookish endeavours take us!
Acquired Book By: I originally found BookSparks PR last Spring, when I came upon the Summer Reading Challenge a bit too late in the game. I hadn’t forgotten about it, and was going to re-contact them this Spring to see if I could join the challenge this year instead. Coincidentally, before I sorted this out, I was contacted by one of their publicists about Linda Lafferty’s Renaissance historical novel, “The Sheperdess of Siena”.
At the time when I was confirmed to be a part of the #SRC2015 official blog tour schedule, we were not able to get confirmation on which books we selected to review on our respective blogs would be sent to us by the publishers and/or publicist at BookSparks, thereby I submitted purchase requests at my local library for all *10!* books I selected to read and review.
I elected to read “Wishful Thinking” via the complimentary copy I received by BookSparks as the library copy arrived just after this lovely book arrived by postal mail. By participating in the #SRC2015 challenge I am reading the novels in exchange for my honest reviews; whether I am receiving a complimentary copy or borrowing them through my local library. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Wishful Thinking
by Kamy Wicoff
Source: Direct from Publicist
Genres: Women's Fiction, Motherhood | Parenthood, Magical Realism, Time Travel Fiction, Quantum Physics Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Published by She Writes Press
on 21st April, 2015
Format: Paperback Edition
Pages: 384
written by Kamy Wicoff | Site | @kwicoff | Facebook | Instagram
Published By:She Writes Press (@shewritespress)
originated from She Writes (@shewritesdotcom)
an imprint of Spark Points Studio LLCGoSparkPoint (@GoSparkPoint)
& BookSparks(@BookSparks)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Converse via: #WishfulThinking & #SRC2015 Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Tuesday, 30 June, 2015 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, #SRC2015 | BookSparks, 20th Century, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Cover | Original Illustration & Design, Bookish Films, BookSparks, Cats and Kittens, Clever Turns of Phrase, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Disillusionment in Marriage, Divorce & Martial Strife, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Fathers and Daughters, Genre-bender, Humour & Satire in Fiction / Non Fiction, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Inspiring Video Related to Content, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Library Love, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Life Shift, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Magical Realism, Modern Day, Mother-Son Relationships, Motherhood | Parenthood, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, New York City, Passionate Researcher, Public Service | Community Officers, Quantum | Mechanics Physics Theory, Realistic Fiction, Science Fantasy, Scribd, Second Chance Love, Single Mothers, Sisterhood friendships, Story in Diary-Style Format, Terminal Illness &/or Cancer, Time Shift, Time Travel, Time Travel Adventure, Time Travel Romance, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction
Posted Thursday, 30 April, 2015 by jorielov Harper Books, HarperCollins Publishers, Last Night at the Blue Angel, Rebecca Rotert, William Morrow 3 Comments
Acquired Book By:
I was selected to be a tour stop on “Last Night at the Blue Angel” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
A Note on the Cover Art Design:
I can honestly say that this is one time where I prefer the cover art design on the first edition rather than the P.S. Edition, as you will see via the SoundCloud Novel Excerpt and the After Story feature below the review, the original design I felt befit the story much better than this new version which only sought to confuse me when I first received the book. You have to look at it from afar if you can even hope to understand what the image is representing whereas the original design had the elements of the synopsis held within the gaze. The colour hues of the original fit better to as far as atmosphere of the kind of story your about to read.
Last Night at the Blue Angel
by Rebecca Rotert
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Set against the turbulence of 1960s Chicago—a city in transformation—and its legendary jazz scene, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a lush and immensely heartfelt mother-daughter tale about a talented but troubled singer’s relationship with her precocious ten-year-old daughter.
It is the early 1960s, and Chicago is teeming with the tensions of the day—segregation, sexual experimentation, the Cold War and Vietnam—but it is also home to some of the country’s most influential jazz. Naomi Hill, a singer at the Blue Angel club, has been poised on the brink of stardom for nearly ten years. But when her big break, the cover of Look magazine, finally arrives, it carries with it an enormous personal cost. Sensual and magnetic, Naomi is a fiercely ambitious yet self-destructive woman whose charms tend to hurt those around her, and no one knows this better than her daughter, Sophia.
As the only child of a single mother growing up in an adult world, Sophia is wise beyond her years, a casualty of her mother’s desperate struggle for fame and adoration. Unsettled by her home life, she harbors a terrible fear that her world could disappear at any moment, and compulsively maintains a list of everyday objects she might need to reinvent should nuclear catastrophe strike. Her only constant is the colorful and unconventional family that surrounds her and her mother, particularly the photographer, Jim, who is Sophia’s best friend, surrogate father, and protector—but Jim is also deeply in love with Naomi.
Weaving between the perspectives of Sophia and Naomi, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a poignant and unforgettable story about what happens when our passion for the life we want is at sharp odds with the life we have. Part stylish period piece, part heartbreaking family drama, it’s a novel rife with revelations, a vivid and propulsive page-turner—and the major debut of an extraordinary new writer.
Genres: Literary Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Published by William Morrow
on 14th April, 2015
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Available Formats: Hardback, P.S. Edition paperback, Audiobook and Ebook
Converse via: #LastNightAtTheBlueAngel
Listen to an Excerpt of the Novel:
About Rebecca Rotert
Rebecca Rotert received an M.A. in literature from Hollins College, where she was the recipient of the Academy of American Poets prize. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and other publications. She's also an experienced singer and songwriter, who has performed with several bands, and a teacher with the Nebraska Writers Collective. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska. This is her first novel.
Website | Blog | Twitter
Read More
Posted Thursday, 30 April, 2015 by jorielov in 20th Century, Audiobook, Audiobook Excerpt, Based on an Actual Event &/or Court Case, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Chicago, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, History, Jazz Musicians, Jazz Singers, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Musical Fiction | Non-Fiction, Nun, Photography, Political Narrative & Modern Topics, Realistic Fiction, Soundcloud, The Sixties, TLC Book Tours
Posted Wednesday, 22 April, 2015 by jorielov Dorothea Benton Frank, HarperCollins Publishers, The Hurricane Sisters, William Morrow 3 Comments
Acquired Book By:
I was selected to be a tour stop on “The Hurricane Sisters” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary hardback copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Books to take a chance on:
I do admit, I like a well-writ family drama every so often, as I like to see how different family dynamics are written into fiction. Everyone has a different life from everyone else, but it is still inherently true to find similarities between us as well. The manners in which families are strongly attached to each other despite their flaws and otherwise bad attributes of personality; find a bridge of connection through as the bonds between the members are rooted and anchoured by love. Or at least you hope their connected through love, because there are all kinds of families out there, and it’s how they become a family that is less important than the fact that they are one.
Even close friends can feel more like family than your actual immediate family because especially in the case of women, sisterhood bonds of connection are as strong as an oak! Each writer has a different way of giving out a portrait of a family and a different way of attaching different threads of adversity to the family as a whole. I personally like to dig inside Southern Literature as often as I can, and although I have heard of Dorothea Benton Frank in passing, I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading one of her novels.
The Hurricane Sisters first appealed to me to read whilst I caught sight of it by title alone: any girl or bloke who grew up with severe storm systems grievously wrecking havoc on their home state will be alerted to the word ‘hurricane’ whichever way to Sunday the word is implied or used. To me, it nearly felt as if the storms themselves was a method of inclusion and of connection — to where, despite the odds against it, this little vacuum of space might yield an incredible bond. I wasn’t quite sure what I would find inside the novel itself, even after reading the impressive synopsis, but I knew this much: the Low Country of South Carolina has called me before into it’s fictional folds and this time, I knew I’d feel as if I were re-visiting a favourite setting.
My favourite authors who set their stories inside South Carolina include Sherryl Woods of the Sweet Magnolia series and Rosina Lippi of The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square – two authors I can quite happily say I found at my local library who sparked a wildfire of hours encased inside their worlds!
The Hurricane Sisters
by Dorothea Benton Frank
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
Hurricane season begins early and rumbles all summer long, well into September. Often people's lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just such a story.
Once again Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being middle-age and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future keeps them all at odds.
Luckily for Ashley, her wonderful older brother, Ivy, is her fierce champion but he can only do so much from San Francisco where he resides with his partner. And Mary Beth, her dearest friend, tries to have her back but even she can't talk headstrong Ashley out of a relationship with an ambitious politician who seems slightly too old for her.
Actually, Ashley and Mary Beth have yet to launch themselves into solvency. Their prospects seem bleak. So while they wait for the world to discover them and deliver them from a ramen-based existence, they placate themselves with a hare-brained scheme to make money but one that threatens to land them in huge trouble with the authorities.
So where is Clayton, Liz's husband? He seems more distracted than usual. Ashley desperately needs her father's love and attention but what kind of a parent can he be to Ashley with one foot in Manhattan and the other one planted in indiscretion? And Liz, who's an expert in the field of troubled domestic life, refuses to acknowledge Ashley's precarious situation. Who's in charge of this family? The wake-up call is about to arrive.
The Lowcountry has endured its share of war and bloodshed like the rest of the South, but this storm season we watch Maisie, Liz, Ashley, and Mary Beth deal with challenges that demand they face the truth about themselves. After a terrible confrontation they are forced to rise to forgiveness, but can they establish a new order for the future of them all?
Frank, with her hallmark scintillating wit and crisp insight, captures how a complex family of disparate characters and their close friends can overcome anything through the power of love and reconciliation. This is the often hilarious, sometimes sobering, but always entertaining story of how these unforgettable women became The Hurricane Sisters.
Genres: Literary Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Published by William Morrow
on 4th June, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
7 April 2015 (P.S. Edition – paperback edition)
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Available Formats: Hardback, Trade Paperback, Ebook
Converse via: #TheHurricaneSisters
About Dorothea Benton Frank
New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. She is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including Lowcountry Summer and Return to Sullivans Island. She resides in the New York area with her husband.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Posted Wednesday, 22 April, 2015 by jorielov in 21st Century, Adulterous Affair, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Art, Based on an Actual Event &/or Court Case, Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Violence, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Fathers and Daughters, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Fly in the Ointment, Humour & Satire in Fiction / Non Fiction, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Library Find, Literary Fiction, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Low Country South Carolina, Mental Health, Modern Day, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Realistic Fiction, Singletons & Commitment, Small Towne Fiction, Sociological Behavior, TLC Book Tours, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction
Posted Wednesday, 10 December, 2014 by jorielov Catherine Ryan Hyde, Lake Union Publishing, The Language of Hoofbeats 3 Comments
The Language of Hoofbeats by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Published By: Lake Union Publishing
Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook, and Ebook
Converse on Twitter via: #TheLanguageOfHoofbeats
Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Language of Hoofbeats” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Lake Union Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
When I originally heard about this story from a list of blog tours which may or may not become a tour with TLC, I cast my hat into the ring to be amongst the book bloggers who might be able to review it! One of the more interesting bits of revelation as a book blogger whose in her 2nd Year, is how extraordinary the blog tour schedules are set and how each book starts to curate it’s own unique history of going on tour! This particular book was slated to be on a blog tour, yet it was uncertain if it would be at one point. Part of me grieved a bit as even though I knew I could still read this novel through my local library (libraries are a booklover’s best friend!), there was an internal part of me who had hoped I could read and blog it for my readers!
I have been a bit open and honest about how I am going to be adopting out of (domestic) foster care in the future, as I have found different ways to broach the topic whilst either reading a book who has the same topic of interest knit inside it or if I find a window of where I could talk about being a future Mum in a way that worked with what I was blogging about at that point in time. This novel sparked an interest because it is about blended families, about having adopted children and fosters; whilst attempting to sort out how to bring a family together as a whole. To me that undercurrent of a theme for the novel spoke to me, as any Prospective Adoptive Mum never knows what is going to happen once you open your heart and home to fosters and adopted children. There is always a period of adjustment and then a moment of where all parties start to connect in ways no one could have seen but always had hoped. The journey of being a blended family through adoption or fostering of children is a path not everyone chooses to walk, but is one that is knitted into my own heart.
Therefore I am always mindful and aware of which books I want to read in the future to help encourage an open dialogue on my blog — for riveting and realistic fiction for adults as much as for stories inside Children’s Lit which can help children and teens in and out of the system find stories they believe are representative of their own life story. This particular focus on my blog began with a Middle Grade novel Red Thread Sisters and has evolved forward. In 2015, I want to take a moment out of each month to bring a spotlight on the books I’m finding through my library as there is a wonderful assortment of novels and non-fiction for foster and adoptive families right now. I even spoke about how these stories fit under my participation for seeking out more diverse literature as part of the national campaign for #WeNeedDiverseBooks.
What I hadn’t realised is the author penned the story Pay It Forward which became a bonefide motion picture! My whole focus on this book prior to the blog tour was the prospect of what I would find inside the pages and how the author would choose to focus on the harder hitting moments within. Her previous works are unfamiliar to me, and although I am aware of the film, I have not seen it. How lovely then, I came to know her through an Indie release focused on a non-traditional family!?
The Language of Hoofbeats
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes a story of the heartbreak and healing power of family. New to a small town, Jackie and Paula envision a quiet life for their kids: a young adopted son and two teenage foster children, including the troubled Star.
However, they quickly butt heads with their neighbor, Clementine, who disapproves of their lifestyle and is incensed when Star befriends her spirited horse, Comet. Haunted by past tragedy and unable to properly care for Comet, Clem nevertheless resents the bond Star soon shares with the horse. When Star disappears with Comet, the neighbors are thrown together—far too close together. But as the search for the pair wears on, both families must learn to put aside their animosity and confront the choices they’ve made and the scars they carry.
Plumbing the depths of regret and forgiveness, The Language of Hoofbeats explores the strange alchemy that transforms a group of people into a family.
Genres: Women's Fiction, Adoption & Foster Care Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 978-1477824689
Published by Lake Union Publishing
on 9th December, 2014
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 342
Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Wednesday, 10 December, 2014 by jorielov in Adoption, Blog Tour Host, Brothers and Sisters, California, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Foster Care, Go Indie, Indie Author, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Life Shift, Modern Day, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Orphans & Guardians, Realistic Fiction, Siblings, Single Mothers, Social Services, TLC Book Tours, Women's Fiction
Posted Monday, 8 December, 2014 by jorielov Catherine Lloyd, Death Comes to London, Death Comes to the Village, Kensington Publishing Corp., Kurland St. Mary Mysteries, Lady Darby Mysteries 0 Comments
Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd
Published By: Kensington Publishing Corp. ()
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, E-book
Converse on Twitter via:#KurlandStMaryMysteries, #DeathComesToLondonBlogTour
Acquired Book By:
I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Death Comes to London” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I requested the first novel in the series to better understand the flow of continuity and the origins of the Kurland St. Mary mysteries series of which Kensington sent me a complimentary copy of “Death Comes to the Village”. I read both novels back to back for the blog tour and was not obligated to post a review for the first novel. I received a complimentary copy of “Death Comes to London” direct from the publisher Kensington Books, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
I sometimes find curious extra bits tucked inside my review book parcels, and this time around Kensington surprised me with a few things: a bookmark for “Death of a Dog Whisperer” by Laurien Berenson replete with the ENTIRE series listing on the opposite side of the bookmark! How lovely! I am going to be seeking this series out via my local library! My grandmother was keen on the series (at least I am thinking she was! I only remember there was a cookery mystery series she loved to read and I felt it was this one?) but it was the Double Fudge Brownie recipe bookmark which whet an interest to see when in 2015 I can borrow “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder” to sort it out for myself! And, ooh yes! I am going to bake these brownies too! Which girl do you know wouldn’t savour a ‘free’ chocolate maddeningly rich brownie recipe!? The third surprise was a postie (postcard) annoucement for Kat Martin’s “Against the Sky” February release — on the flipside, it reflects her Alaskan series! However a rather buff agent of the law is on the cover of “Against the Sky” also set in Alaska (perhaps their the same series?) and I happily read “first time in print”! Ooh how lovely – perhaps it was an e-book previously!? (as an aside I found a tweet which answers my questions! see below this review!) Thank you, Kensington for whetting the whistle of my curiosity with these lovelies!
Inspired to Read:
As I have expressed recently, my love and passion for reading cosy mysteries are twofold: I appreciate the ones which take-on a particular historical setting and thereby become a part of the emerging sub-genre “Cosy Historical Mysteries” of which I defined a bit underneath this tour’s author’s guest post; all the while I appreciate the traditional cosy mysteries which harken back to the grandmother of the genre itself Agatha Christie! (read my thoughts on Dame Christie via my tour stop for The Monogram Murders) The Regency is a era of folly and mirth of joyful readings for me — I positively adore reading romances set during the Regency era and the fact this particular mystery series is set within a tranquil and quaint village outside of London; well, you can well imagine how wicked happy I was to request to be on the blog tour! I believe as you read my review of the first novel Death Comes to the Village prior to reading this review of the sequel you shall understand fully why I am drawn into reading cosies!
I read this installment with my newly given reading marker with the cutest hound dog and a stack of books seen on the front side of the Death of a Dog Whisperer bookmark! I had forgotten to mention there is a wicked lovely puzzle you can play with the cover art for “Death Comes to London” on the author’s website! Read More
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Posted Monday, 8 December, 2014 by jorielov in #IndieWriterMonth, 19th Century, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Cosy Historical Mystery, England, Equality In Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Indie Author, Jorie Loves A Story Features, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Regency Era
