Category: Mental Health

+Blog Book Tour+ The Duel for Consuelo by Claudia H. Long

Posted Monday, 1 September, 2014 by jorielov BookTrope Editions, Claudia H. Long, The Castillo Family series, The Duel for Consuelo 3 Comments

The Duel for Consuelo by Claudia Long

Published By: BookTrope (@booktrope)
Official Author Websites: Site | Blog | @clongnovels | Facebook
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #DuelForConsueloBlogTour & #TheDuelForConsuelo

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Duel for Consuelo” virtual book tour through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Claudia H. Long, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

The Duel for Consuelo
by Claudia H. Long
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

History, love, and faith combine in a gripping novel set in early 1700’s Mexico. In this second passionate and thrilling story of the Castillo family, the daughter of a secret Jew is caught between love and the burdens of a despised and threatened religion. The Enlightenment is making slow in-roads, but Consuelo’s world is still under the dark cloud of the Inquisition. Forced to choose between protecting her ailing mother and the love of dashing Juan Carlos Castillo, Consuelo’s personal dilemma reflects the conflicts of history as they unfold in 1711 Mexico.

A rich, romantic story illuminating the timeless complexities of family, faith, and love.

Genres: Historical Fiction

Places to find the book:

Series: The Castillo Family, No. 2

Also in this series: Invincible

Published by Booktrope Editions

on 2nd of June, 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 231

Author Biography:

Claudia Long is a highly caffeinated, terminally optimistic married lady living in Northern California. She writes about early 1700’s Mexico and modern day and roaring 20′s California. Claudia practices law as a mediator for employment disputes and business collapses, has two formerly rambunctious–now grown kids, and owns four dogs and a cat. Her first mainstream novel was Josefina’s Sin, published by Simon & Schuster in 2011. Her second one, The Harlot’s Pen, was published with Devine Destinies in February 2014. Claudia grew up in Mexico City and New York, and she now lives in California.

The breadth of history knitted into the text:

I will admit, part of the reason I was drawn into reading this novel, is because although I have travelled to Mexico in my youth, I haven’t had the proper chance to seek out Mexican stories in fiction since the days I spent climbing pyramids and enjoying the local cuisine. I always appreciate stories whose characters are not only culturally diverse but religiously diverse as well – we live in such a beautiful melting pot of a world, that through literature we can all enlarge our compassion and empathy for others simply by picking up books whose characters have strong historically enriched backgrounds and are set during times in the world’s history that may or may not be highlighted in schools. I will admit, very little was covered about the Mexican history concurrent to the Americas time-line, outside of the more well-known events that are briefly covered. I was always a bit curious about our neighbour to the South, wondering about their own historical stories and the growth they had endured as their country grew through the centuries. I thankfully have started to make a bit of headway on my quest to seek out literature of Mexico and South America, as I previously read City of Promises.

I made an exception to read this novel out of sequence from its series, as when I read the full descriptions of the previous novel and cross-compared it with this novel, I felt this second novel was a better fit for me overall. I liked how the story was centered around a tumultuous slice of history with the family’s struggle for balance in a world that is fighting against their very will to find a measure of normalcy.

My Review of The Duel for Consuelo:

As soon as I opened the pages of The Duel for Consuelo, I was greeted by a passionate story-teller who wanted to not only impart the history of the time the story is set but to curate a connective thread to the family within the story itself. In the Prologue, there is a full sense of urgency to gain freedom on distant shores where both time and distance can help restore a blight on a family’s heritage moreso than staying where they have always lived. In this story, there appeared to be an issue of religious heritage that was giving the family a bit of grief, but as the next generation moved forward with their own life lived in the Americas, a sense of compassionate forgiveness was evident as was the hope for a new day for a family I had just barely begun to become acquainted with as the clock moved forward a century.

Yet, as I am settling into the story, the voice of Rosa’s granddaughter comes out quite strong as the narrative vehicle for which this story revolves; through her eyes it is evident that compassion and acceptance is still quite far away from being given. Through her maternal line of origin there is a history of Judaism, a reverence for Jewish culture and faith which is not aligning well for her family during the Spanish Inquisition. Her father comes across rather bearish as his ideal capitalistic pursuits are less shallow than his vain attempts to clarify his role in the community. Consuelo herself feels pulled through this duality of purpose – to be the daughter her father can be proud of and the caregiver of her mother, whose health is not as well as it had been in previous years. She is tied to the home, yet her dreams carry her outside the walls as she goes about her daily routines.

The most sinister moment was when it was revealed that despite her father’s efforts to quiet a blackmailer, his efforts were found out and his family was thus unprotected by the wrath of justice that would follow if he did not find a way to amend for his actions. This was a curious sideline of the opening structure of the story, as he barely agreed to the blackmail on one breath and he was found in the wrong on the next. I had almost felt that this might have carried forward as a dark secret for the duration of the story, but instead, it flickered and died.

Consuelo’s own gift was in her nurturing attentiveness to those who were ill and her maternal instincts to care for those who needed assistance. Although, I gathered she would have preferred to do more in her life than care for her mother, it was in so doing that she learnt her greatest gift was in the understanding of apothecarist healing practices and the strength of herbs. Her life was overshadowed by the forbearing presence of her father, a man who ruled his roost with a strong hand, and yet, never gave much consequence to his daughter or wife. He was much more interested in keeping up the appearance of who they were rather than being honest inside his relationships and business affairs. How she found the strength to rise above each adverse and brutal moment of shocking distrust is a credit to her confidence in herself. She was not dealt an easy life nor one that aligned with how she believed her life would fall together – in life as in love, she was betrayed and it was through anguish she started to rise again.

Her father’s inability to forestall the Inquisition’s ransom and blackmail demands (although earlier I felt they were relieved of) played a larger part of the trials in which Consuelo found herself in the middle of succumbing. Her life was not necessarily her own, and her choices although valid in their own right, rarely had the light to shine on their own accord. The most distraught part of the story is watching Consuelo attempt to right her stars only be dragged by through the mud carved out of her father’s transactions and misdirections of attempting to escape a worser fate. She was used as though she were a pawn, and despite that, she always had the hope for a future she could no longer envision probable. The acidity of rumours and insinuated falsehoods plagued her from the very start, as where truth and lies forged together as though welded in steel, it is within this nest of vipers Consuelo truly had to find a sword stronger than her entangled woes.

On the writing style of Claudia H. Long:

Long tells the story from different points of view which lately I am appreciating being given the opportunity to read with such frequency; as I originally only occasionally had come across this style of the craft. Each sequence is broken down into each of the character’s mindfulness of the events or the daily trials as they arise. As you shift through their connective chapters, you draw out more insight into how the family structure is maintained and who has the keener knowledge of what is actually going on. The ailing mother for instance is given reflective chapters where you are reading her internal thoughts rather than her spoken words in the moment. This is a bridge to understand and accept her husband and daughter, as she is revealing a bit of the unspoken truths that the other two leave amiss.

Long has infused her historical novel with such a breadth of history, you cannot help but acknowledge the dedication she had to researching this part of Mexico’s 17th and 18th Century past. She stitches into the everyday dialogue bits and bobbles of Spanish as well, and as I always lament, I appreciate when a native tongue can be included as it helps to strengthen the picture we have in our mind of the characters whose heritage is not only important to their identity but helps visualise who they are as they live inside the story.

The story is truly emotionally gutting in its intensity throughout the narrative arc, as the story is rooted in the historical knowledge of the time in which the events unfold. The brutal injustice and the prejudicial judgments of those who did not understand a different in faith and belief is quite shocking to read; even if the knowledge of the era is already known. The hardest part for me, was shifting through the more difficult passages to entreat back into the light and to see where Consuelo found her resolve and the strength to carry-on. I credit this to Long who gave her readers resolution even with the realisation that many might not have found the same in real life.

Blog Book Tour Stop,

courtesy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Virtual Road Map of “The Duel for Consuelo” Blog Tour found here:

see what I will be hosting next for

and mark your calendars!

{SOURCES: Cover art of “The Duel for Consuelo”, author photograph, book synopsis and the tour badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Go Indie

Posted Monday, 1 September, 2014 by jorielov in 17th Century, 18th Century, Apothecary, Blog Tour Host, Christianity, Civil Rights, Cultural & Religious Traditions, Cultural Heritage, Domestic Violence, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Father-Daughter Relationships, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Geographically Specific, Good vs. Evil, Herbalist, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Indie Author, Judaism in Fiction, Light vs Dark, Medical Fiction, Mental Illness, Mexico, Psychological Abuse, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, World Religions

+Blog Book Tour+ The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar Release Day! #literary fiction

Posted Tuesday, 19 August, 2014 by jorielov HarperCollins Publishers, The Story Hour, Thrity Umrigar 2 Comments

The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar

Published by: HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins), 19 August, 2014

Available Formats:Hardback, Ebook
Page Count:336

Official Author Websites: Site | @ThrityUmrigar | Facebook

Converse via: #ThirtyUmrigar

Acquried Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “The Story Hour” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of the book direct from the publisher HarperCollins Publishers, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Book Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of The World We Found and The Space Between Uscomes a profound, heartbreakingly honest novel about friendship, love, and second chances.

An experienced psychologist, Maggie carefully maintains emotional distance from her patients. But when she agrees to treat a young Indian woman who tried to kill herself, her professional detachment disintegrates. Cut off from her family in India, and trapped in a loveless marriage to a domineering man who limits her world to their small restaurant and grocery store, Lakshmi is desperately lonely.

Moved by Lakshmi’s plight, Maggie offers to see her as an outpatient for free. In the course of their first sessions in Maggie’s home office, she quickly realizes that what Lakshmi really needs is not a shrink but a friend. Determined to empower Lakshmi as a woman who feels valued in her own right, Maggie abandons protocol, and soon doctor and patient become close. Even though they seemingly have nothing in common, both women are haunted by loss and truths that they are afraid to reveal.

However, crossing professional boundaries has its price. As Maggie and Lakshmi’s relationship deepens, long-buried secrets come to light that shake their faith in each other and force them to confront painful choices in their own lives.

With Thrity Umrigar’s remarkable sensitivity and singular gift for an absorbing narrative,The Story Hour explores the bonds of friendship and the margins of forgiveness.

Author Biography:

Thrity Umrigar is the author of five other novels—The World We Found, The Weight of Heaven, The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, and Bombay Time—and the memoir First Darling of the Morning. An award-winning journalist, she has been a contributor to the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Huffington Post, among other publications. She is the winner of the Nieman Fellowship to Harvard, the 2009 Cleveland Arts Prize, and the Seth Rosenberg Prize. A professor of English at Case Western Reserve University, she lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

My Review of The Story Hour:

The voice of whom greets you as Chapter One opens is a woman whose English is not second nature, as she struggles a bit to fuse words to match her thoughts and emotions. Yet even in the manner of which she voices her innermost concerns, her voice has depth of awareness; of sensing her place as it is in the world and of where she is in her life. We are greeting Lakshmi at the very moment she is attempting to take her own life. Everything is planned and laid out within the opening page, except for getting to the root of what has caused her such a deeply felt psychological anguish as to effectively want to exit her life. The details of ‘why’ she is choosing what she is doing will surely come forward lateron, but in this heightened moment we are witnessing her actions without a way to decrease the tension of the moment. As she starts to move towards completing her task to remove herself from this world, her mind flickers back through memories of how unfair and unjust her situation has become whilst living in America.

We start to see how she has a torrent of psychological abuse stemming from her husband and how even the kind favour of a gift of gratitude will be interpreted with disfavour by others. She is struggling to make sense of her self-worth and her position in life now that she is no longer with her family back in India, where she even kept an elephant as a pet. Whilst her voice draws quieter through her ordeal, the next person to step into focus is her soon-to-be psychologist Maggie who is an African-American married to an Indian; her marriage is the leaverage her boss is hoping will open a door of dialogue with Lakshmi. I could understand Maggie’s instinctive reaction of disgust realising that the merits of her work ethic and capabilities as a psychologist were only second to being a woman of colour and living in a multicultural home. She tabled her own restless thoughts as she knew they were stemming out of anger ‘in the moment’ rather than out of experience with being around her boss. In this one scene, very early-on in the novel, Umrigar humbles her psychologist by allowing the reader to visually see her own flaws, misgivings, and humanistic reactions.

I felt myself distracted a bit by the pacing inside the novel, and the shifting points of time — as it was not always easily known if we were reading the present circumstances or withdrawing back into a flashback sequence of memories. What I did enjoy was seeing how the psychologist was starting to spiral a bit from the pressure of everything she had to endure internally as she listened to other people’s stories. It is rare when it is mentioned that psychologists have a weight placed on them that nearly expects them to be inhuman. To be more than they are, as they are not able to be shielded nor numb to what they listen to during their sessions. They still have to internalise the words, the horrific stories, and find some semblance of hope to share with their patients. This is a story that honours the psychologists who for whichever reason, have reached a point in their careers where carrying on as usual is not as easy as it once were.

Although Lakshmi’s voice is a strong undercurrent of the story, I nearly felt as though it was her personal plight in life and cross to bear that gave the freedom for Maggie to heal herself. Maggie was just as much in need as counsel and consolation as Lakshmi. Their paths crossed at a critical point in both of their lives, to where the sessions Lakshmi needed to talk out her life’s experiences and the emotional vaccum that had encased her past the point of wellness; gave Maggie a chance to re-examine her own difficult past. Both women share turbulance and domestic abuse to a certain extent, and both women never could be open and honest about who they each faced inside the mirror.

Yet the danger of allowing yourself to erase the distance needed to be a psychologist and effectively help your patient grow through healing is that the side effect could be devasting to your own affairs. The closer Lakshmi came to growing wings to fly on her own accord and stand on her own two feet, the closer Maggie came to watching her life spiral competely down the drain. The threads which connected them were a double-edge sword, as where on one hand a doctor is meant to heal and do no harm; the opposite is making yourself vulnerable to where the lines are too blurred to see who the patient is. The Story Hour is a domestic drama about two women from different walks of life whose path brings them into the forefront of each other’s awakening hour.

Fly in the Ointment:

Although the randomness of the stronger words used in the novel are idly placed and randomly inclusive to the story, they are the little nettles of disappointment for me. I did not feel the words enhanced the storyline, nor the continuance of the character’s thoughts, if anything they felt like a simple way to express their emotions. I also felt a bit disconjointed from the dialogue and narrative passages, as one moment we are in the present and a second later we are in the middle of a flashback. I believe the effect was to be a continuing stream of conscienceness, but for some aspects of it, I felt muddled. As I wasn’t sure if I was still in the present, learning about the recent past, or ‘somewhere’ neither here nor there completely. There is a fair bit of crudeness as well, not as much as in crude humour but simply in crude ways of expressing certain things that the characters are attempting to reflect about themselves.

This blog tour stop was courtesy of TLC Book Tours:

The Story Hour
by Thrity Umrigar
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Genres: Literary Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Published by HarperCollins Publishers

on 19th August, 2015

Pages: 336

click-through to follow the blogosphere tour.

Earlier today, I hosted an Author Interview with Thrity Umrigar.

Previously I enjoyed the story Losing Touch by Sandra Hunter.

See what I am hosting next:

Comments make me smile! Let’s start a conversation! I appreciate your visit & look forward to your return! I do moderate the comment threads; do not worry if the comment is delayed in being seen! Drop back soon!

Reader Interactive Question:

What are your own thoughts about the connection between the books we read, the authors who pen them, and the unique bridge of connective thoughts which unite all of us together!?

{SOURCES: Cover art of “The Story Hour”, author photograph, book synopsis and the tour badge were all provided by TLC Book Tours and used with permission. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

Posted Tuesday, 19 August, 2014 by jorielov in Adulterous Affair, ARC | Galley Copy, Blog Tour Host, BlogTalkRadio, Bookish Discussions, Bout of Books, Disillusionment in Marriage, Divorce & Martial Strife, Family Drama, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Fly in the Ointment, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Hindi Words & Phrases, Library Find, Life Shift, Literary Fiction, Literature of India, Medicated Against Will, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Modern Day, Psychiatric Facilities, Psychological Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Self-Harm Practices, Social Services, TLC Book Tours, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, Vulgarity in Literature

+Author Interview+ Conversing with Thrity Umrigar on life, writing, and her new release “The Story Hour”

Posted Tuesday, 19 August, 2014 by jorielov HarperCollins Publishers, The Story Hour, Thrity Umrigar 1 Comment

Today, I am honoured to welcome to my blog, the author of “The Story Hour”, Ms. Thrity Umrigar who has a considerable amount of heart-stirring literary fiction under her belt thus far along in her writing career! There was one in particular I still remember finding through my local library: The World We Found. Imagine my happy surprise to not only take part in her blog tour for her newest release, but having the happenstance opportunity to have a conversation with her about her writing life, approach to the craft of creating stories, and of course, bobbles of insight into The Story Hour; the novel of the hour!

Without further adieu, please enjoy where our conversation led us!

Book Synopsis:

From the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of The World We Found and The Space Between Uscomes a profound, heartbreakingly honest novel about friendship, love, and second chances.

With Thrity Umrigar’s remarkable sensitivity and singular gift for an absorbing narrative,The Story Hour explores the bonds of friendship and the margins of forgiveness.

Author Biography:

When asked about your WIP during your BookSlut Interview you mentioned you were writing “I Begins” which is the very first words of the novel “The Story Hour”. Did you already know the title of the finished version at that point in time OR was it truly the first opening sentence that had already formed?

Umrigar responds: I knew that I Begins would be the first and last lines of the new novel and since it’s the story of a woman’s transformation, I thought it was an apt title for the novel. However, I was also aware that given that it was ungrammatical, the title would confuse readers. I knew I would ultimately have to change it but it was a good working title for me.

You take a sociological perspective whilst carving out the interior lives of your characters, focusing on their particular internal struggles and illuminating their common threads of hope influenced by their actions and choices. Does this come inherently through your own penchant for living through hope whilst embracing cultural differences? Or in combination for a passion for understanding the kinetic struggles of humanity on a whole?

Umrigar responds: I agree with the playwright Tony Kushner when he says that hope is not a choice, it is a moral obligation. I believe positive change is always possible and even if that ultimately proves to not be the case, it makes for a better, richer life if we believe that change is possible rather than start with the assumption that it isn’t. As a writer, I don’t necessary tie up loose ends in a pretty little bow at the end of my novels, but I always like my open-ended endings to allow the reader to at least entertain the possibility of transformation. Without hope, this would be a dead planet.

“The Story Hour” is a testament of crossing boundaries and barriers between patients and their psychologists, a thinly veiled line by most regards, as how close is too close and how detached can you become whilst engaged in therapy? It is a curious quandary to explore, and I was curious if this particular story was centered on a real-life story you’ve overheard (as some of your stories are) or if perhaps it was a thread of your own curiosity to explore?

Umrigar responds: There were two things I was thinking about when I wrote The Story Hour, and in some ways, they may seem like contradictory impulses or assumptions. One was that therapy is primarily a white, middle-class concept, one that is alien to people in many cultures–in the Third World most certainly, where talking about your problems may seem not only indulgent but also futile because poverty, illiteracy etc. are not going to be cured by talking about them. But it is also true in subcultures within Western society–immigrant communities, blue-collar and working class communities.

But at the same time, I was intrigued by the thought that “therapy” was simply a form of storytelling–that is, you are telling the story of your life to another person. By doing so, you are shaping a narrative of your life and this act itself can lead to personal growth and transformation. And that’s why it’s called The Story Hour–that hour a week that Lakshmi and Maggie spend in therapy together is when Lakshmi is allowed to “speak her truth,” tell her own story. It gives her permission, you see, to create her own persona. And then she becomes it.

Posted Tuesday, 19 August, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, BlogTalkRadio, Bookish Discussions, Bout of Books, Disillusionment in Marriage, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Library Find, Life Shift, Literary Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Modern Day, Reader Submitted Author Interview, Realistic Fiction, TLC Book Tours

+Blog Book Tour+ Sense & Sensibility: A Latter-Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison A twice-published after canon author of Jane Austen’s works!

Posted Monday, 18 August, 2014 by jorielov A Gift of Hope, Cedar Fort Inc, Danielle Steel, Jane Austen, Rebecca H. Jamison, Sense & Sensibility 5 Comments

Sense & Sensibility: A Latter-Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison

Published By: Bonneville Books, (@BonnevilleBooks )

an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFort)

Official Author Websites: Site | @RebeccaHJamison
| Facebook | Pin(terest) Boards
Available Formats: Paperback
Page Count: 247

Previously she wrote: Persuasion & Emma as ‘Latter-Day Tales’ too!

Converse via: #SenseandSensibility

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Cedar Fort whereupon I am thankful to have such a diverse amount of novels and non-fiction titles to choose amongst to host. I received a complimentary copy of “Sense & Sensibility: A Latter-Day Tale” direct from the publisher Bonneville Books (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read: this girl is a Janeite!

I am not sure when the exact moment occurred in my childhood, but I started to feel a kinetic bond with Jane Austen, to the brink that I knew that once I started to read her beloved works by all who already knew her, … I would become a Janeite. She simply had a convincing way of expressing life as it was lived during her own era, of the minute details of ordinary life intermingled with the reflections of a keen observant eye. My first forays into Austen’s canons was a bit of a hit/miss for me, as I began originally with “Sense & Sensibility”, although I attributed this false start due to what had been on my mind and heart at the time I had first picked it up. The gift I spoke about on my participation page for ‘Austen in August‘ is the very reason I approach this particular blog tour without the benefit of reading the canon. I wanted to reaquaint myself with the gifted books and step back through a door I had not yet fully opened.

It was not until Keira Knightley’s edition of “Pride & Prejudice” that I was able to ascertain the focus I wanted to garnish for Austen, as I nestled into a pocket edition of Pride. Forestalling my visit to the local cinema and barely making it to see the new adaptation before it left the theater completely! In my further expeditions into Classical Literature, I’ll have to talk about my passion for ‘pocket’ hardback editions, as I only briefly mention them in quirkily placed positions on my blog thus far along! Knightley’s motion picture will always hold a special place in my heart, despite what others might express on her behalf. I already ruminated previously that Colin Firth’s mini-series would be my most adored adaptation, but there is always room for adaptations that draw a measure of liberty with their scope.

*At this point in time I have not yet seen Colin Firth’s mini-series, a future viewing during Austen in August is planned

I had fully intended to read “Emma” this August, as previously disclosed but due to an increase in demand for the novel to be checked out of my local library, I had to pull it from my reading list; rather unfortunate, but in doing so, I cancelled my queue to receive “Emma: A Latter-Day Tale” as I quite literally felt I ought to wait. I’m still going to be reading “Persuasion” in step with the Jane Austen Reading Challenge, which will allow me to queue “Persuasion: A Latter-Day Tale” at that point in time. Blessedly, I have a ready copy of Persuasian on hand, and Jamison’s novels are easily acquired through ILL’ing. (inter-library loan)

You could say, in the future I shall have enough of Austen’s tomes to spread about between my personal library and the backpack I’ll take with me on my travels. The editions I’m collecting are most decidedly of the ‘bookish soul’ who appreciates not only the quality of the volumes, but the unique differences of each presentation of the text.

By joining this blog tour, I am one step closer to my goals of reading through the breadth of Jane Austen and the authors who are as transfixed on her legacy as I am myself. I am hoping participants in this year’s ‘Austen in August’ and thus forthcoming years as well, will lay their comments in the threads below and give way to a hearty conversational thread! I also plan to write a cross-comparison post at such a time as to when I can read Sense & Sensibility!

Book Synopsis Read Aloud for Sense & Sensibility: A Latter Day Tale by BonnevilleBooks

As if it wasn’t bad enough to be getting food from Church welfare, I had to meet one of the Ferreros–a good-looking Ferrero, at that.

Elly Goodwin, a brilliant programmer, is so desperate for a job that she takes one from her ex-boyfriend–the same man who put her family out of business. Then she meets Ethan Ferrero, who seems too good to be true–especially for her ex’s brother-in-law. At the same time, she must help her sister Maren recover from a severe case of depression. Elly is far too busy for love, especially not with Ethan Ferrero.

Meanwhile, Elly’s dramatic sister, Maren, has recovered enough to fall in love, and when she falls, she falls hard. Elly must intercede before Maren’s passion clouds her common sense. Together, Elly and Maren must learn that a mixture of sense and sensibility is the perfect recipe for love.

Fans of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility will love this modern retelling of the classic romance novel.

Author Biography:

Rebecca H. Jamison wrote novels just for fun until she made a New Year’s resolution in 2011 to submit a manuscript to publishers. Since then, she’s published three books, starting with Persuasion: A Latter-day Tale.

Rebecca grew up in Virginia. She attended Brigham Young University, where she earned a BA and MA in English. In between college and graduate school, she served a mission to Portugal and the Cape Verde islands. Her job titles have included special education teacher’s aide, technical writer, English teacher, and stay-at-home mom.

Rebecca enjoys running, dancing, reading, and watching detective shows. She lives with her husband and children in Utah.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Austen in August 2014
Go Indie

Posted Monday, 18 August, 2014 by jorielov in 21st Century, Adoption, After the Canon, Austen in August, Autism, Blog Tour Host, Book Synopsis Read Aloud, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Bout of Books, California, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Charity & Philanthropy, Classical Literature, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Contemporary Romance, Dairy-Free Foods, Dating & Humour Therein, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Equality In Literature, Family Life, Fly in the Ointment, Food Panties & Community Assistance, Foreclosure | Short Sale | House Auction, Gluten-Free Foods, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Inspired By Author OR Book, Jane Austen Sequel, Library Catalogues & Databases, Local Libraries | Research Libraries, Maryland, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Modern Day, Mormonism, Multicultural Marriages & Families, Psychiatric Facilities, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Re-Told Tales, Reading Challenges, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Sense & Sensibility Re-telling, Siblings, Singletons & Commitment, Sisters & the Bond Between Them, Special Needs Children, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, World Religions

+Book Review+ Tempesta’s Dream: A story of Love, Friendship, & Opera by Vincent B. “Chip” LoCoco

Posted Monday, 21 July, 2014 by jorielov Cefalutana Press, Peter Danish, Tempesta's Dream, The Tenor, Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco 2 Comments

Tempesta’s Dream: A Story of Love, Friendship, & Opera by Vincent B. “Chip” LoCoco

Published By: Cefalutana Press,26 September, 2013
Official Author Websites: Site | @VincentBLoCoco| Blog
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook Page Count: 264

Converse via: #TempestasDream, #TempestasDreamBlogTour, & #HFVBTBlogTour

Acquired Book By: I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Tempesta’s Dream” virtual book tour through HFVBT: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Vincent B. “Chip” LoCoco, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Book Synopsis:

Tempesta’s Dream is the story of an aspiring opera singer coming of age in Milan; a tender and moving love story; a testament to the bonds of friendship; and, at its core, a tribute to the beauty, majesty and miracle of opera.

Giovanni Tempesta always dreamed of becoming an opera tenor and one day singing from the stage of the La Scala Opera House in his hometown of Milan, Italy. But with no real training, his dream has little chance for fulfillment . . . One day, he meets and immediately falls in love with Isabella Monterone, a dark-haired beauty, whose father, a very rich and powerful Milanese Judge, refuses to allow his daughter to date a penniless musician . . . At the lowest part of his life, Giovanni comes upon the Casa di Riposo, a rest home for musicians established by the great opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi . . . It is at the Casa Verdi that Giovanni meets Alfredo del Monte, a blind, retired opera singer with a secretive past who gradually becomes his mentor . . . Could Alfredo be the one person who could assist Giovanni in finding the break he needs? Or is Giovanni destined to be on the cusp of reaching his life long dream, only to find failure? . . . Tempesta’s Dream, at its core, is an Italian opera love story. The author tells the story simply and swiftly with an ending that is both an emotional and poignant moment of both “amicizia e amore” (friendship and love.)

Author Biography:

Chip LoCoco was born and raised in New Orleans. He is an attorney, with an emphasis on estate planning. A lifelong lover of music, Chip’s passion for opera dates back many years now. He has seen operas all over the world at some of the greatest opera houses. Chip has been asked to give talks on opera as well as the Sicilian-American culture of New Orleans.

Chip’s second novel, Bellafortuna, has been named a Short List Finalist in the William Faulkner Writing Competition. A date for publication has not been set yet for his second novel.

Chip is married to his wife of 15 years, Wendy. They have two children, Matthew and Ellie and a beagle, named Scout. They reside in their beloved city of New Orleans, where if you try to find them on a Sunday in the Fall, they will be somewhere rooting on their Saints.

On the Revelations within the Author’s Note:

The author and I share a mutual thread of heritage and passion for music — as I was raised in a very artistic minded home, where art, culture, and music flourished. My grandparents had a particular interest in Japanese art and music, whereas my parents introduced me to Native American culture, religion, and art, as much as a definitive zest for classical music and compositions. On this level, my favourite ‘music’ as a child were actual motion picture soundtracks, specifically not the ‘pop’ track versions, the ‘scores’, by such conductors as John Williams. The 1812 overture was an especially keen favourite but that goes to the root of my patriotic birthright. I listened to a heap of ‘singles’ on vinyl editions, which gave me the propensity as an adult to seek out traditional record shoppes and restore my fever of excitement over collecting not only ‘new’ limited releases but the older classics from the early 20th Century straight through to classical opera.

Attending symphonies and orchestra performances is what lent my ear to listening to opera – in the traditional sense, the modern band versions, and of course rock opera from the theatrical stage! I love how music can evoke such an emotional connection and stir our souls into an elevated experience of heart, mind, and spirit. Music reaches us on a different level than vocalised speech, as it speaks directly to who we are past our humanity. Reading about the author’s own past growing up in a creative and spirited environment which celebrated the arts, most specifically the focus on music in its most classical forms, gave me a renewed belief that there are others out there who lived a similar life to my own. I had to nod in agreement with him about how there are differences between our childhoods and this modern world we are living in which tends to eradicate the traditional arts, cultural experiences, and musical traditions that have sustained the world for millennia. Yet I have started to seen a renewed interest in not only re-attributing the old world arts and crafts, but to give a new appreciation for the classical arts as a whole. This positive step forward renews my own heart and soul on the matter, as life without music (or any of the classical arts & crafts) is a life without a creative lifeblood cast onto the wings of our spirits.

I appreciated hearing about the conversations and visitations he had with Mrs. Cellini as it gave a personal glimpse into his writing life that not every writer shares with his readership. I like hearing snippets of where research takes writers on their discovery and journey as they research their novels. This gave an added dimension to the spirit he wove into the text and for that he had my appreciation!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Go Indie

Posted Monday, 21 July, 2014 by jorielov in 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Trailer, Composer, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Italy, Life in Another Country, Life Shift, Lyrical Quotations, Mental Health, Musical Fiction | Non-Fiction, New Orleans, Opera History, Opera Singers, Star-Crossed Lovers