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Category: Family Drama

Author Q&A | Before I even read “NY Doc Under the Northern Lights” (#HarlequinMedical) by Amy Ruttan, I knew I wanted to converse with her about her #writinglife & journey into publishing! Here’s the lively convo we shared and how it led to finding out we have more than a few mutual interests!

Posted Wednesday, 17 October, 2018 by jorielov Amy Ruttan, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Medical Romance (imprint), NY Doc Under the Northern Lights 2 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Recently I had the chance to sample reading #HarlequinMedicalRomance – taking my bookish heart into a country I have felt romanticised and enchanted by for years (Iceland) whilst finding myself being swooned by the prospect of reading Medical driven story-lines after a proper sabbatical! I have been reading Harlequin stories (of their various imprints!) for years now – including as far back as my teenage years – so yes, a considerable amount of time! However, I hesitated to read the medical dramas & romances as outside of my teen years & my early twenties, I wasn’t as keen on anything to do within a hospital, a medical examiner’s ward (exception being Duckie & Abby’s labs!) or anything within the world of fiction therein.

I had tapped out so to speak – then, as I’ve been hosting for Prism for a little over a year now – I’ve become charmed by their authors and their stories. I’ve felt attached to these little gems of novels which Harlequin writers put out each month and which subscribers can receive by postal mail in the good old fashioned book club #bookmail fashion! I’ve been focusing on the Romance & Heartwarming lines of stories through Prism – however, with my Mum I’ve been dearly attached to their #LoveINSPIRED line of Suspense.

As you will notice throughout this conversation – Ms Ruttan and I share a lot of mutual interests & passions! I was inspired to host an interview to compliment my review as I had a good feeling about the writer behind this novel I read even from the cursory enquiries I had researched prior to accepting the blog tour itself! I love to research the authors I am considering to read – for blog tours or reviews (in general) and in this instance, it has led me to such a brilliantly lovely conversation!

The kind of conversation dear hearts I was itching to reveal to you and share *immediately!* after receiving but knew I had to keep patient until my second day on the blog tour arrived! Fear not – that hour is now here and I can finally offer this conversation for your readerly joy! As always, be sure you brew yourself a cuppa of your favourite tea or chai (or java!) before starting to read where the conversation took us!!

If you love to bake and being that it is Autumn – be sure to share what you had with your cuppa as I love finding out new bakery delights for this season of renewal!!

What I loved most about ‘NY Doc Under the Northern Lights’:

I nearly felt daunted by the fact this was Ms Ruttan’s 20th #MedicalRomance and it was my 1st romantic Medical drama in over two decades! Part of me wondered if I ought to have tried to ILL a few of her others before I received this one for review but then, a part of me rationalised if I loved reading this one, I could take my time and slowly borrow the others as I read through her backlist! That is the true joy for me as I discover new Harlequin authors I appreciate reading – the collective whole of their stories which can be read in intervals which lengthen the joy of revisiting with their characters!

One thing I appreciated in the opening chapters of NY Doc Under the Northern Lights is the calming ease I felt whilst settling into a medical drama after such a long personal absence from a genre I once loved! I never know if I can re-enter a genre I’ve placed on the back burner and with Ms Ruttan’s writing style the return for me was an enjoyable one!

The further I tucked into the novel, the more I wanted to know about these characters! The approach in telling their stories felt so intrinsically realistic. Everything moved steadily in an organic flow of reality – pacing us into their lives but also, giving full measure of how this family had underwent life changing circumstances to where they were all in a different stage of progress towards healing and resolution of past hurts.

Ms Ruttan placed me inside a romance of second chances, new beginnings and the unexpected twists life affords us as we’re living our life forward. These are the kind of romances I dearly love discovering and as I was mentioning on Twitter today (er, the 10th) I really love finding stories about the caretakers (as described in this tweet) – the men who are not afraid to give of themselves – to their families, to their loved ones and to the ones they choose to walk through life together. (see also tweet) (see also this tweet as well) How lovely then, the story I ended up reading the same day I read these exchanges of tweets, I found a writer who already encompasses the kind of relationships I love reading!

-quoted from my review of NY Doc Under the Northern Lights

An important message from the author:

I’m supporting Breast Cancer Awareness month with @Millsandboon! 10% of all copies of NY Doc Under the Northern Lights duet sold @ASDA will be donated to #TickledPink in support of @BCCare @BreastCancerNow. I’d love to see a snap if you see a copy in the wild! pic.twitter.com/mDSvsqe0gG

— Amy Ruttan (@ruttanamy) October 4, 2018

I couldn’t wait to retweet this special s/o of charity proceeds stemming from the sales of the story I am reading for review today. This is an insidious disease and it affects so many people we either know personally or know indirectly – one of my Aunt’s in my family had it but more recently, the journey Ms (Susan) Spann is taking climbing the #100Summits in Japan was showcased on my blog to highlight the empowering survival spirit of those who can beat the odds and to give inspiration to those who are continuously fighting for their life.

My full sympathies to you, Ms Ruttan! :( It is never easy to lose those we love but a Mum; a Mum is a hard loss. I'm so very sorry this insidious disease has been afflicting your fam for generations; can see why you've attached your novel to the cause & I hope #readers take note!

— Spooktastically, Jorie🧛🍂 (@joriestory) October 10, 2018

Let us take a moment to send a note of support to Ms Ruttan and to help spread the awareness of how this novel NY Doc Under the Northern Lights is making a difference with each book sold!

NY Doc Under the Northern Lights
by Amy Ruttan

Escaping the big city…

For love under Icelandic skies

When surgeon Betty Jacinth’s heart is broken once again, she takes a job in Iceland for a change of scenery. She expects cold weather—but not the frosty welcome she receives from gorgeous but brooding Dr. Axel Sturlusson! Now father to his orphaned niece, Axel gradually thaws, and a flame ignites—but when Betty’s ex begs her to return, can she make the right choice for love?

Places to find the book:

Add to Riffle

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1335663795

Also by this author: NY Doc Under the Northern Lights

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

Published by Harlequin Books, Harlequin Special Edition

on 18th September, 2018

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Published by: Medical Romance (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin

Formats Available: Ebook and Paperback

Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance & #HarlequinMedical

OR #Harlequin w/ #MedicalRomance

About Amy Ruttan

Born and raised just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Amy fled the big city to settle down with the country boy of her dreams. After the birth of her second child, Amy was lucky enough to realize her life long dream of becoming a romance author. When she's not furiously typing away at her computer, she's a mom to three wonderful children who use her as a personal taxi and chef.

Posted Wednesday, 17 October, 2018 by jorielov in 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host & Reviewer, Contemporary Romance, Family Drama, Family Life, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Iceland, Indie Author, Medical Fiction, Mental Health, Modern Day, Motherhood | Parenthood, Nurses & Hospital Life, Orphans & Guardians, Prism Book Tours, PTSD, Reader Submitted Q&A, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Single Fathers, Sudden Absence of Parent

Blog Book Tour | “NY Doc Under the Northern Lights” (#HarlequinMedical) by Amy Ruttan feat. a special message about #BreastCancer awareness & donation to fight the disease

Posted Thursday, 11 October, 2018 by jorielov Amy Ruttan, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Medical Romance (imprint), NY Doc Under the Northern Lights 1 Comment

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. I am unsure how many books I’ll review for them as most are offered digitally rather than in print but this happily marks one of the blog tours where I could receive a print book for review purposes. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors.

I received a complimentary copy of “NY Doc Under the Northern Lights” direct from the author Amy Ruttan in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why this particular Harlequin story stood out to me to read:

I will admit, there was a time in my life where I could not get enough Medical Romances in my life or Medical Dramas for that matter! Whether I was seeking them out in fiction – yes, I’ve know about this imprint for Harlequin for a long, long time – including when the covers used to be featuring scrub green! – or whether I was watching television dramas like ER or Crossing Jordan whilst happily binge watching Quincy, ME. I would never watch Chicago Hope when it aired as that felt sacrilegious being an ER girl! Laughs with mirth. I even had a ‘chat’ group in my high school where every Friday whilst our Spanish teacher tried to get us to settle into our lessons, I was more keen on hashing out last night’s episode!

Then, somewhere round my early twenties when I discovered Strong Medicine, I started to notice the story-lines and the cases on the series were affecting me. To the point where seeing the shows were no longer my ‘joy’ but were becoming more intense to filter after seeing them. In essence, I knew my time with ‘medical’ anything was over – until of course someone called ‘Mark Harmon’ smittened my eye to start watching NCIS (later in my twenties) and I came to love a ME named ‘Duckie’ and a forensic scientist named ‘Abby’!!

I should also mention I streamed the first two episodes of New Amsterdam and had this series aired in the ’90s whilst ER was still airing, I would have been a bonefide fan! Now? I saw the writings on the wall why that kind of medical drama was for the girl I was yesterday and not the girl I am today. For one thing – did they have to use so much graphic scenes to empathsis conditions where less would have been more? Clearly those days are ‘over’.

Also, I exited ER after they killed off Lucy Knight – as that was the key episode where I felt the series went ‘too far’ even though they crushed my heart by taking off Hathaway and Ross!

Which brings me to why I thought I ought to read this particular release! Since I’ve been hosting for Prism, I’ve noticed I am finding new routes of interest into different imprints by Harlequin once again – I have had a healthy curiosity about the kind of romantic medical dramas authors might be writing for this imprint ever since I saw Candace Cameron Bure’s light hearted medical romance on Hallmark Channel where she moves to Alaska and wishes to be in New York at a major hospital?

A lot of what I love about Harlequin Romances has the similar appeal to my bookish heart as the kind of romances you find on Hallmark Channel. You almost know going into the stories you can not just survive reading them but you are going to feel uplifted afterwards! This was the key as somewhere in my wanderings of medical drama on television – my heart couldn’t take the drama anymore on scene as I was no longer feeling uplifted. Such as what happened when in syndication I reached that pivotal moment where M*A*S*H aired its final arc and goodbye? I was filling buckets with my tears and my heart was severely crushed. Those latter seasons were brutal to get through!

With a happy optimism I signed on for this blog tour to see if what I love about medical dramas and medical romance are now contained in an imprint I’ve been cautiously avoiding for more years than I care to honestly admit possible! Perhaps I have found a new entry into a category of interest I thought I had to leave abandoned! I fully admit I was keenly smitten with the idea of this novel being set in Iceland! A country who loves writers and story-tellers – the land of enchanting scenery, hot springs and a volcano which keeps everyone on their toes! It is truly a remarkable country (from what I’ve gathered from afar) and the Northern Lights are a phenom I’d love to visually take in one day for my own experience as I have read about them and seen them in films but ooh! To see them in person? I can’t even imagine!

When the novel arrived however, Ms Ruttan had a few cheeky surprises for me – especially in regards of how to give a book blogger a hearty chuckle of JOY when spying a rather dashing doctor stuck between the pages of a book she’s about to read for review!!

An important message from the author:

I’m supporting Breast Cancer Awareness month with @Millsandboon! 10% of all copies of NY Doc Under the Northern Lights duet sold @ASDA will be donated to #TickledPink in support of @BCCare @BreastCancerNow. I’d love to see a snap if you see a copy in the wild! pic.twitter.com/mDSvsqe0gG

— Amy Ruttan (@ruttanamy) October 4, 2018

My full sympathies to you, Ms Ruttan! :( It is never easy to lose those we love but a Mum; a Mum is a hard loss. I'm so very sorry this insidious disease has been afflicting your fam for generations; can see why you've attached your novel to the cause & I hope #readers take note!

— Spooktastically, Jorie🧛🍂 (@joriestory) October 10, 2018

Let us take a moment to send a note of support to Ms Ruttan and to help spread the awareness of how this novel NY Doc Under the Northern Lights is making a difference with each book sold!

NY Doc Under the Northern Lights
by Amy Ruttan
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

Escaping the big city…

For love under Icelandic skies

When surgeon Betty Jacinth’s heart is broken once again, she takes a job in Iceland for a change of scenery. She expects cold weather—but not the frosty welcome she receives from gorgeous but brooding Dr. Axel Sturlusson! Now father to his orphaned niece, Axel gradually thaws, and a flame ignites—but when Betty’s ex begs her to return, can she make the right choice for love?

Places to find the book:

Add to Riffle

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1335663795

Also by this author: NY Doc Under the Northern Lights

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

Published by Harlequin Books, Harlequin Special Edition

on 18th September, 2018

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Pages: 256

Published by: Medical Romance (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin

Formats Available: Ebook and Paperback

I added a flame rating to this story as it goes a bit further than most of the stories I’ve been regularly reading by Harlequin (such as the Heartwarming imprint or even the Special Edition); though it is tamer than I would presume the Desire imprint (of which I’ve not yet read a story) but I wanted to simply say it has more heat inside than I was expecting to be contained within it. The two characters definitely share a keenly intimate interlude towards the last quarter of the novel which is quite detailed.

Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance & #HarlequinMedical

OR #Harlequin w/ #MedicalRomance

About Amy Ruttan

Posted Thursday, 11 October, 2018 by jorielov in 21st Century, A Father's Heart, Adoption, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host & Reviewer, Bookmark slipped inside a Review Book, Contemporary Romance, Content Note, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Iceland, Indie Author, Life Shift, Medical Fiction, Mental Health, Modern Day, Motherhood | Parenthood, Nurses & Hospital Life, Orphans & Guardians, Prism Book Tours, PTSD, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Single Fathers, Sociological Behavior, Sudden Absence of Parent

Blog Book Tour | “A Duel for Christmas” (Book Three: Jacob Pevensey Mysteries) by Rosanne E. Lortz

Posted Monday, 8 October, 2018 by jorielov A Duel for Christmas, Lady Darby Mysteries, Madison Street Publishing, Pevensey Mysteries, Pride and Prejudice, Rosanne E. Lortz 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! I received a complimentary ARC copy of “A Duel for Christmas” direct from the author Rosanne E. Lortz in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

What I previously enjoyed about listening to ‘To Wed an Heiress’:

The drama behind this situation is etched out through Lortz’s characters – as each of them are entering into the despair from different perspectives. Even the cousin, Eda has a role in the aftermath as this effected her the most by all rights and then, of course, the mother, Lady Angelsford who only wanted the best for her sons. Lortz showed the grief in Lady Angelsford by how she acted around Eda and how she hoped against the drastic measures Haro was considering to fix what her husband had left for them to resolve.

Ms Lortz has a keen eye for the fashions of the Regency – the way Ms Westbrook described the fashions within this installment of the series was a true delight! I loved how she brought to life the clothes Ms Lortz featured on her characters but also, of how classy she selected the clothes to fit the personalities of her characters. Each of them had their own unique style and that particular style brought out who they were in personality; as it rightly should but in this instance with the narrator moving us forward into the context of the story itself, it all came together rather beautifully.

Lortz brings an equal balance between the upstairs and the downstairs climates – letting us peer into the way the staff see their positions and the people they serve whilst we benefit from Ms Lortz dual perspectives of her settings. This was something I loved and championed about her approach of story-telling within the pages of The Duke’s Last Hunt and I was most thrilled to see was inclusive to her first installment To Wed an Heiress as it has its own appeal of realism for the Regency to find these perspectives brought forward.

To Wed an Heiress is the kind of Historical Romance I can honestly disappear inside as there is a keen sense of the prosperity and propriety resplendent of the Regency – as soon as you start listening to the audiobook: you are swept back into the years of balls, marriage markets and where the ton were unforgiving when it comes to changes in circumstances and status. You get caught up in how she’s set the stage for this first entry into the series – as there was an urgency running through the narrative. Of how time was of not just the essence but it was the one thing Haro could control if only in small ways to stem the effects of his errant father. He had the chance to find a way to circumvent the damages but it was time he needed to best sort out the right way forward – yet, Ms Lortz shows how sometimes when your young and determined, time is not something you want to forestall. You simply want to find the answer, act on whatever you need to do to ensure it and pick up your life from whence it was starting to take a downward ‘pause’. Even if of course, taking such a rash course of action might not yield the outcome you were most hoping to seek out?

This is how Lortz entices you into the folds of her Regency Romances – where they are equally divided between the allure of a Romantic Suspense and the keen sensibility of a Regency Romance – the benefit being your taking a lovely stroll of insight backwards into the Regency, populated by characters who are as realistic as the voices given to them by Ms Westbrook and of whom, you become immediately attached too. I love her innate style for these captivating mysteries but also for her cunning sense of how to give us new stories in the Regency which grab our hearts, our minds and our imaginations. She truly has a well-rounded style of Historical Romance to where you neither want to see one of her stories end or be too far away from reading your next installment!

-quoted from my review of To Wed an Heiress

Notation about the Cover Art Design: In a word it is smashingly brill! I was in love with this cover art design from the very first moment I saw it! Seeing it up close as I pulled the ARC out of the bubbler mailer was a true delight as the snow in the background seems to burst to life even though it is not 3-Dimensional nor raised to feel textured under your fingertips. The bloke on the cover has such a fierce presence you almost instantly felt you knew of him even if you did not and what can I say? I love architectural design and ambiance – this cover is just smashing! They even made it a lovely addition to a book blogger’s library as this ARC has a special graphic on the cover itself but they also included a black and white inside copy of the cover art, too! Such a posh edition, truly! Only thing missing was a note from the Editor!

A Duel for Christmas
Subtitle: A Jacob Pevensey Mystery
by Rosanne E. Lortz
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

After seven long years in Devon, Lady Maud Worlington returns to London to reclaim life on her own terms, but a nefarious shadow and the prospect of financial ruin dog her steps. An impulsive and unforgettable kiss under the mistletoe creates a connection with Geoffrey, the handsome, young Duke of Tilbury. Yet as pleasant as it is to have a suitor, Maud is not sure how a boy of one-and-twenty can prove an equal partner in life and the equal of all the forces mounted against her.

The Duke of Tilbury considers himself as adept at managing matters as he is at swordplay, but his beautiful new acquaintance Lady Worlington has other ideas about how to manage her complicated life. Intrigued by their stolen kiss, Geoffrey pursues Lady Worlington’s affections, only to be foiled by the lady’s own doubts, by rivals for her hand, and by a sudden death that affects both their families. When Jacob Pevensey, the investigator from Bow Street enters the scene, the duke becomes a prime suspect in the murder case. Truths are unearthed that Geoffrey would rather keep hidden, and the twelve days of Christmas race toward a perilous end.

This novel takes the medieval events surrounding the sinking of the White Ship and transposes them to Regency London.

Places to find the book:

Add to Riffle

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780996264877

Also by this author: The Duke's Last Hunt

Also in this series: The Duke's Last Hunt, To Wed an Heiress, A Duel for Christmas

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance

Published by Madison Street Publishing

on 1st October, 2018

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 383

Published By: Madison Street Publishing (@MStPublishing)

Jacob Pevensey Mysteries:

To Wed an Heiress (see also Review)

The Duke’s Last Hunt (see also Review)

A Duel for Christmas

Converse via: #HistoricalRom, #HistoricalSuspense, #Regency, #RomSusp
Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook and E-Book

About Ms Rosanne E. Lortz

Rosanne E. Lortz is a writer, editor, teacher, history-lover, and mom to four boys. She loves to read, sing, draw, compose, write, and create. Education is one of her passions, particularly a classical, liberal arts education. She has taught English composition and grammar, Latin, history, music, and various other subjects for ten years at both the elementary and secondary level and is currently the Director of Academics and Admissions at Paideia Classical Christian School in Gladstone, Oregon.

Rosanne’s first book, I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince, was released in 2009. This book explores the tumultuous landscape surrounding the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death and is a tale of arms, of death, of love, and of honor. In 2015, Rosanne began her Pevensey mysteries, novels of romantic suspense set during the British Regency (with inspiration from medieval characters and events). The first three titles are: To Wed an Heiress, The Duke’s Last Hunt, and A Duel for Christmas.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Monday, 8 October, 2018 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 19th Century, Blog Tour Host & Reviewer, Castles & Estates, Clever Turns of Phrase, England, Family Drama, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Inheritance & Identity, London, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, the Regency era

Audiobook Review | “To Wed an Heiress” (Book One: Pevensey Mysteries) by Rosanne E. Lortz These are the Regency Romantic Suspense novels I simply find #unputdownable and blissfully engaging!

Posted Tuesday, 2 October, 2018 by jorielov Madison Street Publishing, Pevensey Mysteries, Rosanne E. Lortz, To Wed an Heiress 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “To Wed an Heiress” direct from the author Roseanne E. Lortz in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

What I previously enjoyed about reading ‘The Duke’s Last Hunt’:

How oft are you privileged to enter a carriage whilst a discussion is slowly starting to dissolve into a bit of a row? (here, I refer to a heated argument!) Not oft, you say? I do agree with you – yet this is how we came to meet our lady heroine Eliza and her disagreeable Mum and Da (Lady Malcolm and Sir Arthur). Not surprisingly, the topic of the moment is encompassing the ill fate of Eliza’s 3rd London Season without much hope of a bid on her hand, save for one – from an awkward suitor the Duke of Brockenhurst – titled prospects are keenly sought after in regards to those wishing to either marry into or stay married inside the ton (the upper elite of society; the aristocracy). Eliza herself is not convinced this is a wise placement – she finds the bloke more than tiresome and without much joy in conversation.

One of the joys for me about period dramas and Roms, are the upstairs/downstairs dichotomy where staff, residents and guests are having to side step each other at times and at different intervals remind themselves they can be cordial with each other; shaking off some of their reserved formality. I was not shocked when Eliza took the staff off-guard by her conveyance of pleasantries upon arrival at Harrowhaven; as such exchanges are very rarely the norm! This did nothing to assuage the anxiety Eliza felt upon being at the estate, knowing what was at stake. Her misgivings were more directed towards her (potential) suitor’s mother – a woman she never met and of whom left her waiting to meet. Not exactly instilling the best of confidences! Eliza read between the lines of their guide the enigmatic housekeeper Mrs Forsythe, who was also at times quite evasively vague in her responses!

Segued from Eliza and her parents arrival, we find the dear Duke has a bedeviled brother named Henry! His oats are not nearly sown quite yet but his scorn for his brother is palatable even in short distance! Most of his consternation is the fact that he was passed over on inheritance and had to live underneath his brother – by both means and title. Inheritances were quite wrought with folly back then; they either burdened you, freed you or gave you a nightmare of patience to endure whilst siblings quibbled about what was fair and what was just in regards to procuring a proper disbursement of funds! Thus, for whichever reason, Henry decided to add his hat to the fray – dropping in on his dear mother and brother at the height of their ‘house party’ of which the Malcolms were invited but without explanation (although you could gather Sir Arthur had a singular mind towards what he hoped it would be inclusive of). Henry’s intentions of vexing his brother something fierce left me in a chuckle! Such a rat! Laughs. He’d prefer to cause a scene and disrupt the order of the estate than to take a more tactful approach to resolve his grievances! Despite his flaws, he made one keen observation – the Duke rarely keeps acceptable company! Perhaps this is a subtle nod to hint towards a hidden secret to why his brother would pitch for Eliza’s hand?! Perhaps not as straight-forwarded of an offer as Eliza dared hope?

Lortz balanced this Rom Suspense with a potboiler of a drama – slow building like a wicked good stew, where each new ingredient towards the reveall was well worth the wait to appear! She writes a Regency you immediately love reading in other words!

-quoted from my review of The Duke’s Last Hunt

To Wed an Heiress
Subtitle: A Novel of Romantic Suspense
by Rosanne E. Lortz
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Narrator: Verona Westbrook

Haro Emison, thrust into his new role as Earl of Anglesford, discovers that his late father has left the family teetering on the edge of financial ruin. Intent on rescuing the estate, Haro abandons his long-held interest in his cousin Eda and searches instead for a wealthy heiress. But when pride and jealousy cause his plan to spiral out of control, he begins to wonder if he has made a dreadful mistake….

Eda Swanycke is enjoying her first season in London when her debut comes to a crashing halt. Jilted by her cousin, she suffers the indignity of watching Haro’s new intended lay claim to his person and position. But when a brutal murder upends the household with Haro as chief suspect, Eda must put her wounded pride aside, match wits with the investigator from London, and try, at all costs, to save Haro Emison’s neck from the gallows….

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to Riffle

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B071J91QN8

Also by this author: The Duke's Last Hunt

Also in this series: The Duke's Last Hunt, A Duel for Christmas, A Duel for Christmas

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance

Published by Madison Street Publishing

on 2nd June, 2017

Format: Audiobook | Digital

Length: 7 hours, 30 minutes (unabridged)

Published By: Madison Street Publishing (@MStPublishing)

Pevensey Mysteries:

To Wed an Heiress

The Duke’s Last Hunt (see also Review)

A Duel for Christmas *forthcoming review

Converse via: #HistoricalRom, #HistoricalSuspense, #Regency, #RomSusp
Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook and E-Book

About Ms Rosanne E. Lortz

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Tuesday, 2 October, 2018 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 19th Century, Blog Tour Host & Reviewer, Castles & Estates, Clever Turns of Phrase, Deception Before Matrimony, England, Family Drama, Father-Daughter Relationships, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Inheritance & Identity, London, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, the Regency era

Audiobook Review | “Once Upon A Time in Venice” by Monique Roy, narrated by Kevin E. Green A Middle Grade Chapter Book about family, Italian heritage and the bonds between a grandson and his grandfather.

Posted Sunday, 5 August, 2018 by jorielov (Narrator) Kevin E. Green, Monique Roy, Once Upon a Time in Venice, Self Published 0 Comments

Acquired Digital Audiobook by: I am a new blog tour hostess with Audiobookworm Promotions wherein I have the opportunity to receive audiobooks for review or adoption (reviews outside of organised blog tours) and host guest features on behalf of authors and narrators alike. I started hosting for Audiobookworm Promotions at the end of [2016] during “The Cryptic Lines” tour wherein I became quite happily surprised how much I am now keen on listening to books in lieu of reading them in print. My journey into audiobooks was prompted by a return of my chronic migraines wherein I want to offset my readings with listening to the audio versions.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Once Upon A Time in Venice” via the publicist at Audiobookworm Promotions in exchange for an honest review. This complimentary copy I received is part of the ‘Adopt an Audiobook’ programme where reviewers are given a 90 day window to listen and review the book. I was given a soft deadline where I could post my ruminative thoughts at an hour which worked for me on the day the review was due which in this instance is the 25th of July or at any point ahead of the 25th if I finished the audiobook sooner. This differs from a blog tour which has a more set schedule of posting. The audiobooks are offered to ‘adopt’ for review consideration and are given to readers to gauge their opinions, impressions and insight into how the audiobook is resonating with listeners. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

I am posting my review slightly overdue as the weeks leading up to the 25th as well as until the start of August were especially unkind for listening considering how many lightning storms I was trying to dodge just to stay connected! I decided to post this review the first week of August to allow myself enough time to finalise my thoughts on behalf of the story.

Why this particular story impressed me and why I wanted to listen to it:

As I had forementioned previously on my last adopted audiobook review from Audiobookworm Promotions, I am shifting my reading life to be bent more towards listening to audiobooks than reading stories in print, as a purposeful quest to see if I can offset the repetitiveness of my chronic migraines, which have plagued me quite heavily this year.

I wanted to find a few audiobooks off the Adoption page as a way ‘back’ into reading, as I originally was going to listen to these stories during #Audiobookmonth which was in June. I hadn’t realised then how hard it would be to reclaim my reading life after my Spring migraines, which unfortunately didn’t just delay my listening hours with these audiobooks but with all books in general – which thankfully I restored back into my during the month of July!

This particular story felt like the kind of story I would love as it is set in Italy (I love Italian stories!) for starters and it is about the love shared between a grandson and a his grandfather. I grew up in a close knit family having two sets of grandparents and a great-grandmother, so right away, I had memories of my own bubbling to the surface which were reasons enough to want to listen to the story Ms Roy had written.

Secondly, I do not oft get to listen to Children’s Lit on audiobook – as generally speaking, the titles my library chooses to focus on are Adult Fiction. This gave me a chance to hear a story for Middle Grade listeners but through the course of my own listening, I realised this story is meant for all readers, of all ages! It is a timeless story about multi-generational families, the love that binds us to our heritage and how in the end, love can both shield us, protect us and enable us to have the courage to face the tomorrows we never felt we had the strength to meet.

Once Upon A Time in Venice
by Monique Roy
Source: Audiobook via Audiobookworm Promotions
Narrator: Kevin E. Green