Category: Life of Thirty-Somethings

Book Review | “Learning to Love” by Sheryl Browne #ChocLitSaturdays

Posted Saturday, 30 September, 2017 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Learning to Love, Sheryl Browne 1 Comment

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

I am always seeking relationship-based romance which strikes a chord within my mind’s eye as well as my heart! I’m a romantic optimist, and I love curling into a romance where I can be swept inside the past, as history becomes lit alive in the fullness of the narrative and I can wander amongst the supporting cast observing the principal characters fall in love and sort out if they are a proper match for each other!

I love how an Indie Publisher like ChocLitUK is such a positive alternative for those of us who do not identify ourselves as girls and women who read ‘chick-lit’. I appreciate the stories which alight in my hands from ChocLit as much as I appreciate the inspirational romances I gravitate towards because there is a certain level of depth to both outlets in romance which encourage my spirits and gives me a beautiful story to absorb! Whilst sorting out how promote my book reviews on behalf of ChocLit, I coined the phrase “ChocLitSaturdays”, which is a nod to the fact my ChocLit reviews & features debut on ‘a Saturday’ but further to the point that on the ‘weekend’ we want to dip into a world wholly ideal and romantic during our hours off from the work week!

Acquired Book By: I am a regular reviewer for ChocLitUK, where I hand select which books in either their backlist and/or current releases I would like to read next for my #ChocLitSaturdays blog feature. As of June 2016, I became a member of the ChocLit Stars Team in tandem with being on the Cover Reveal Team which I joined in May 2016. I reference the Stars as this is a lovely new reader contribution team of sending feedback to the publisher ahead of new book releases. As always, even if I’m involved with a publisher in this sort of fashion, each review is never influenced by that participation and will always be my honest impression as I read the story. Whether the author is one I have previously read or never had the pleasure to read until the book greets my shelf.

I received a complimentary copy of “Learning to Love” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I have been looking forward to reading Sheryl Browne’s Contemporary Roms:

If you take a ganderment around my blog and the reviews I am featuring for Romance Fiction and Women’s Fiction – you’ll start to notice a bit of a threading of ‘hope filled stories’ where all is never quite lost and despite your obstacles, adversities and storm brewing difficult seas to navigate in life – there is a better tomorrow just about to surface on the horizon. I love stories of redemption inasmuch as stories of life affirming new possibilities. I love rooting out stories that make your heart lift and your spirit to feel a bit of an intact of joy as your reading about characters who are finding their way inside their lives – moment by moment, striving to arrive inside their tomorrow with a bit more confidence and a lot more affirmative conviction life is surely going to be alright.

I love finding families who are struggling to right what went wrong too, such as the family we are stepping inside to find occupying the story of Learning to Love. These are people whose spirits are on the lower end of the spectrum where hope feels like a far-off dream – not quite in reach and a bit difficult to fuse into their living reality. I like taking the healing journey with characters who aren’t quite sure how tomorrow is going to pan out but aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel either! Characters who have a bit of moxie or just a pure belief in themselves to overcome ‘whichever’ curveball life wants to hand them to face – to strengthen themselves through the journey.

I appreciate writers who are writing about non-traditional families, as there are so many routes towards parenthood as there is family – to root out the stories of everyday people and give back a bit of a shining light to guide a troubled ship into a safe harbour is a keen discovery! I am passionate about small towne fiction too! I love writers who write about community togetherness and the interactions of community members who have a genuine respect and care about everyone’s well-being – it’s the throwback to the way life always used to be, but isn’t quite as noticeable now.

Ms Browne never fails to ignite my curiosities about how her characters will live through their circumstances and find the will to right their sails towards a better tomorrow. She writes with a heart-centred focus on second changes and new beginnings. We all need stories like this to read, to re-bolster what we all know to be true – no matter how difficult our difficulties might seem, there is a way forward and through to an even keel of shared happiness with those we love most.

-quoted from my Cover Reveal for ‘Learning to Love’

I did want to take a moment to explain my interest in Ms Browne writings are for her Contemporary Romance novels rather than her gritty Romantic Crime novels – as she has a series of crime stories being published through ChocLit but for me personally they were a full step outside my comfort zone, which is why I haven’t been participating in the ChocStars Cover selections nor hosting the Reveals; sometimes a girl has to be honest with herself about her boundaries in Crime Fiction! However, I had previously learnt about her Contemporary Romances – not just through the Reveals themselves but through conversations during #ChocLitSaturday, where I had the joys of hearing about her writings and the stories which were going to be released or were released (depending on when the chat took place).

Having said this, you do get a proper sense of what you’d find in Ms Browne’s Death by ChocLit line of stories because there is an infusion of gut-stopping suspense hovering in the background of ‘Learning to Love’. So much so, you nearly forget how the story began and where you’ve been during it’s discourse – as there is an about-turn of truth, action and sequencing where I half laughed to myself realising the beauty of the story was more in the unexpected revelations than in the calm pacing increasing the climax!

I was definitely on the edge of my chair – curious about how this tangled web would unweave itself but moreso, curiously content to watch it all unfold – the horror of it all, watching as these characters I now felt so dearly attached too were once again jettisoned into a sieve of unknown trauma and emergency situations! I can see why those who like True Crime or Hard-Boiled Crime Dramas would find their niche in her Crime series – for me, there just outside my cuppa, but the suspense threaded into this novel was ‘just the right balance’ for me to be included! Your heart nearly stops a beat just awaiting the ‘ooh’ moment!

Therefore, as I am making my way through both ChocLit’s FrontList and BackList titles as I review for them – I wanted to select this particular title as my ‘first’ novel by Ms Browne due to the premise of the story and of how I felt this story would be a fitting read right now as Summer starts to fold into Autumn.

On my connection to the author:

I happily have had the pleasure of interacting with Ms Browne through #ChocLitSaturday the chat off/on for the past two years (or thereabouts). She is a delightful presence to have in the chats and I am thankful she found a niche where she felt comfortable chattering with fellow ChocLit authors, Romance novelists, book bloggers, readers, and other bookishly chatty spirits who alight on Saturdays!

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with her ahead of reading her novels. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time. This is also true when I follow-up with them on future releases and celebrate the book birthdays that come after their initial publication.

Learning to Love
Subtitle: When is the right time to love again?

Sometimes help comes from the most unlikely places…

Living in a small village like Hibberton, it’s expected that your neighbours help you in a time of need. But when Andrea Kelly’s house burns down, taking all her worldly possessions with it, it’s the distant and aloof Doctor David Adams – the person she would least expect – who opens his door not just to her, but to her three kids and slightly dotty elderly mother as well.

Andrea needs all the help she can get, dealing with the aftermath of the fire and the suspicious absence of her husband, Jonathan. But as she gets to know David and his troubled son, Jake, she begins to realise that maybe they need her help as much as she needs theirs…

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

Book Page on World Weaver Press

ISBN: 9781781893524

on 6th April, 2017

Pages: 320

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Paperback & E-Book

Ms Browne’s ChocLit Contemporary Roms:

The Rest of my Life (see also Cover Reveal w/ Notes)

Learning to Love (see also Cover Reveal w/ Notes)

Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance + #ChocLit

About Sheryl Browne

Heartache, humour, love, loss & betrayal, Sheryl Browne brings you edgy, sexy, poignant fiction. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and shortlisted for Innovation in Romantic Fiction, Sheryl has seven books published with Safkhet Publishing.

Sheryl’s new contemporary romance novel was recommended to the publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer. THE REST OF MY Life comes to you from award winning Choc Lit.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Posted Saturday, 30 September, 2017 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, A Father's Heart, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, British Literature, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Content Note, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Domestic Violence, England, Family Drama, Firefighters & Paramedics, Fly in the Ointment, Green-Minded Publishers, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Indie Author, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Life Shift, Loss of an unbourne child, Mental Health, Modern British Author, Modern British Literature, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Second Chance Love, Single Fathers, Small Towne Fiction, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Vulgarity in Literature, Widows & Widowers, Women's Fiction, Women's Health

Blog Book Tour | “Courting Carrie in Wonderland” by Carla Kelly

Posted Sunday, 26 March, 2017 by jorielov Carla Kelly, Cedar Fort Inc, Courting Carrie in Wonderland, Sweetwater Books 0 Comments

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 “Courting Carrie in Wonderland” direct from the publisher Sweetwater Books (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I personally love soaking inside a Carla Kelly Historical:

Carla Kelly shines her soulful grace of the craft of story-telling within this novel, which accomplishes much more at it’s core than merely telling us a story wrought out of the Western genre within the folds of a Historical Fiction. No, this novel seeks a gentle truth towards telling a story rooted in the realism between the continental divides of race, identity, and personal worth as related to station, lifestyle, and locale. She interweaves a gentle hand of guidance within the minds of her characters, but it is how each of her characters bespeak of their innermost beliefs I found endeared me the most to the novel itself.

Kelly has captured my heart for the American West and given me a novel fully supported of cultural integrity and diversity of spirit, soul, heart, and the pursuit of finding your own path when life gives you an intercession of pause to choose how you want to live rather than having a life dictated to you.

-quoted from my first reading of a Carla Kelly novel in 2014 on behalf of ‘Softly Falling’

And, I had the pleasure of reading a second novel by her in 2015:

She has such a wicked clever wit about her dialogue and the conversational exchanges she induces her characters to evolve inside, I find myself happily immersed in her novels post haste! As reflected when I had read Softly Falling I fell so close to the lead characters, I had not begged to exit the story anytime soon! She draws you in with her command of setting and timescape; as this story Summer Campaign held within it all the ferocity of a Jane Austen novel set around the period of time in a young woman’s life where she has become the object of marriageable age.

-quoted from my reading of ‘Summer Campaign’

You can see why I was excited about the prospect of reading a ‘third’ Carla Kelly novel! There have been a few of her novels which have toured which I passed over reading – either the story-line was outside my comfort zone (ie. The Civil War era) or I simply did not have the free time I wished I could have had to consume it. One thing is for certain, I will be spending many a moon in the future seeking out her titles and enjoying the journey I take into her collective works! For awhile now, I have simply felt blessed and overjoyed in finding a few of her novels have been available to review on blog tours! It’s become such a delightful way to be ‘introduced’ to her characters and the different periods of the historic past she loves to write about!

Courting Carrie in Wonderland
Subtitle: Is Kissing Against Army Regulations?

Mercy, he was a fool for this woman. Why on earth had Major Pitcher told him to look for a wife? This was more trouble and heartache than he needed right now since his affairs had suddenly turned south.

Struggling through college and balancing her summer job with the Wylie Camping Company, Carrie simply doesn't have time to consider romance. War veteran Sergeant Major Ramsay Stiles isn't looking for love either because of his own complicated job. But as the magic of Yellowstone Park makes its way into their hearts, both see love making its way up their priority lists.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9781462118724

on 1st March, 2017

Pages: 391

Published By: Sweetwater Books (@SweetwaterBooks),

an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFortBooks)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse on Twitter via: #CarlaKelly

About Carla Kelly

Carla Kelly is a veteran of the New York and international publishing world. The author of more than thirty novels and novellas for Donald I. Fine Co., Signet, and Harlequin, Carla is the recipient of two Rita Awards (think Oscars for romance writing) from Romance Writers of America and two Spur Awards (think Oscars for western fiction) from Western Writers of America. She is also a recipient of a Whitney Award for Borrowed Light, My Loving Vigil Keeping and Softly Falling.

Photo Credit: Marie Bryner-Bowles, Bryner Photography

Posted Sunday, 26 March, 2017 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Historical Fiction, Horse Drama & Fiction, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Military Fiction, Nature & Wildlife, Old West Americana, PTSD, Singletons & Commitment, The Natural World, the Nineteen Hundreds, Walking & Hiking Trails, Western Fiction, Wilderness Adventures, Wyoming

Book Review | “Talk to Me” by Jules Wake A Contemporary RomCom you won’t want to put down! #ChocLitSaturdays

Posted Saturday, 5 November, 2016 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Jules Wake, Talk to Me 0 Comments

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

I am always seeking relationship-based romance which strikes a chord within my mind’s eye as well as my heart! I’m a romantic optimist, and I love curling into a romance where I can be swept inside the past, as history becomes lit alive in the fullness of the narrative and I can wander amongst the supporting cast observing the principal characters fall in love and sort out if they are a proper match for each other!

I love how an Indie Publisher like ChocLitUK is such a positive alternative for those of us who do not identify ourselves as girls and women who read ‘chick-lit’. I appreciate the stories which alight in my hands from ChocLit as much as I appreciate the inspirational romances I gravitate towards because there is a certain level of depth to both outlets in romance which encourage my spirits and gives me a beautiful story to absorb! Whilst sorting out how promote my book reviews on behalf of ChocLit, I coined the phrase “ChocLitSaturdays”, which is a nod to the fact my ChocLit reviews & features debut on ‘a Saturday’ but further to the point that on the ‘weekend’ we want to dip into a world wholly ideal and romantic during our hours off from the work week!

I received a complimentary copy of “Talk to Me” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why Jorie wanted to read this debut:

I’ve been wanting to read Ms Wake’s debut for quite awhile now – however, I had taken a bit of a break from reading Contemporaries to where I reminded myself this year, aside from focusing on the serial ChocLit releases, I wanted to seek out Contemporary Rom writers as well! Either writing dramatic, suspenseful or quirky humour novels set within our modern era and world. This particular one stood out to me as there appeared to be a break-down of communication and an alarmingly strong case for personal safety being put at risk at the same time. I like finding strong themes being pursued in Contemporary Roms as it is a mirror or our everyday lives.

Ms Wake had her debut novel published by ChocLit but has since moved on to a new publisher where her successive novels are continuing to become published nowadays. Even the cover was charming to me – which is unusual to say, as this isn’t quite the typical cover I’d be enraptured by as it’s featuring my least favourite colour (pink!) and lipstick splotches are a bit cliche (most times) but there was something about the layout and the brushstroke effect of the background (reminded me of digital art ‘brushes’); I credit this to Berni Stevens! She never fails me for being intrigued by her cover art designs – and in combination with the premise, I was won over! Proves the point, even a girl who prefers Earth tones and crimson red can embrace pink on certain occasions!

It even felt a bit like a Rom Suspense novel – even if not full-on, there is a stalker involved, so perhaps not all love’s folly and fun?! I positively get giddy over debut novels, too! As you can see affirmed by this tweet s/o I posted ahead of #ChocLitSaturday (wherein we discussed this novel!). Being able to read Ms Wake’s debut novel was such a blessing, indeed! Especially as it’s the start of her writerly career wherein she gave me a Contemporary Rom Com I could blissfully soak inside with pleasure! Even if the last quarter of the novel was such high octane of sitting on pins to await the ending!

Talk to Me

Olivia and Daniel certainly aren’t talking the language of love…

Olivia has been in love with Daniel forever but, despite her best efforts, they’ve never been able to get it together. Their relationship has always been a series of mixed messages and misunderstandings and the final straw comes when Daniel mysteriously starts dating her flatmate, Emily. Hurt and confused, Olivia resolves to forget her heartache with a spot of speed dating. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

One crazy stalker later and Olivia’s life is becoming increasingly strange and scary. Can she rely on Daniel to step in when events take a terrifying turn or will their communication breakdown ultimately result in tragedy?

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

Book Page on World Weaver Press

ISBN: 9781781890639

on 6th January, 2013

Pages: 336

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook, Large Print & E-Book

Converse via: #Contemporary & #Romance + #ChocLit

About Jules Wake

Bred but not born in Yorkshire, Jules considers herself an honorary Yorkshire woman and, despite living in the Chilterns, still misses proper hills. She’s always wanted to be a writer and blames this on her grandmother taking her at a young age to the Brontë’s parsonage in Haworth.

After reading English at the University of East Anglia, she found herself in the glamorous and deeply shallow world of PR, which she rather enjoyed, and spent a number of years honing her fiction writing skills on press releases.

Upon completing a creative writing course and finding no local writing group, she set up the Tring Writers’ Circle. As a result it was incumbent upon her to set a good example and actually write, which was rather fortunate as with a genuine allergy to cleaning, she finds writing offers the perfect displacement activity. Talk to Me is Jules’s debut novel.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing

Posted Saturday, 5 November, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Britian, British Literature, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Dating & Humour Therein, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Domestic Violence, Dsylexia & the Dsylexic, England, Green-Minded Publishers, Indie Author, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Mental Health, Modern British Author, Modern British Literature, Psychological Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Singletons & Commitment, Vulgarity in Literature

Book Review | “Claiming Noah” by Amanda Ortlepp A jolt of heart-clutching emotional drama as we teeter on the brink of understanding the fuller picture of this drama!

Posted Tuesday, 26 July, 2016 by jorielov Amanda Ortlepp, Center Street, Claiming Noah, Hachette Book Group Inc. 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a new reviewer for Hachette Books and their imprints, I started by reviewing releases by FaithWords (the novels of Stephanie Grace Whitson), their INSPY (Inspirational Fiction) imprint of releases focusing on uplifting and spiritual stories which are a delight to read whilst engaging your mind in life affirming and heart-centered stories. I found Hachette via Edelweiss at the conclusion of [2015] and have been blessed to start reviewing for them.

This marks my first review on behalf of Center Street which is also a pivotal imprint for readers seeking inspiring & realistic stories for today’s contemporary world. Stories on topics highlighting current events and/or pivotal life lessons wherein a level of uplift is gained by having the stories grace our lives with their presence. I love seeking out inspirational fiction in all it’s incantations of expression and I am finding Center Street is quite the impressive imprint for unique voices in modern literature.

I received a complimentary copy of “Claiming Noah” direct from the publisher Center Street (an imprint of Hachette Book Group Inc.) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I wanted to read ‘Claiming Noah’ and continue to highlight stories of mumhood:

I have been featuring stories of motherhood on my blog since I first posted my review on behalf of an incredible adoption story: Red Thread Sisters. I was further moved emotionally by the incredibly layered story within the chapters of The Language of Hoofbeats which I had the pleasure of reading for review a short time later. My own path towards motherhood is going to be through adoption as I have been researching adoption for most of my life; as originally if all had been equal my parents would have adopted a younger brother for me. My parents wanted to expand our family first and foremost, but the added benefit at the time I felt was that I would have a younger brother! Something I felt my peers took for granted as I felt it was a blessing to have siblings rather than feeling resentful of them. This goes back to before children were legally free to be adopted and were not being forestalled from prospective adoptive parents; in other words, before Tipper Gore changed adoptive history.

I knew when I began Jorie Loves A Story I wanted to take time to highlight adoptive stories (specifically those featuring foster children) as well as different routes towards motherhood and parenthood, as there are so many different routes towards that end, the stories I could read are limitless. Part of my inspiration to do so is to curate a small library of choices to share with my future children; as I know self-identifiable story-lines are important to children who are growing up in non-traditional families as much as they are for everyone else who has a traditional home environment. Secondly, I wanted to read about motherhood because I feel there are wonderful writers out there who are writing about mumhood in a way that is tangible for today’s contemporary women and men. I think sometimes they are overlooked at being convicting and emotionally centering by the heart of their narrative depths by modern readers; thus inspiring me to seek them out and start to showcase them directly.

I love discovering stories of motherhood and fatherhood; single, married, divorced, widowed or newly married for a second time where the children are natural bourne, adopted, conceived through IVF or involve kinship related-adoptions. These are only a handful of ways children can enter our lives, too, giving us such a breadth of choice where fiction can take us. I knew when I read the premise of this novel it was going to be hard-hitting and downright thought-provoking as there are certain questions that would challenge the reader as much as the characters themselves. The best fiction are the ones that give us something to chew on and attempt to present a scenario that realistically highlights a life or a journey that not everyone takes but is worth considering how you might react inside that same situation. I was thankful Claiming Noah was amongst the books I could consider to review; as I felt it was a story that deserved being known.

Claiming Noah

This riveting debut novel of psychological suspense explores the dilemmas that arise when motherhood and science collide.

Catriona Sinclair has always had a well-developed sense of independence--in fact the one sore point in her otherwise happy marriage is her husband James's desire to take care of her. As she's often tried to explain to him, she took care of herself before she met him, and did a good job of it. But James has been especially attentive lately as they struggle to have a baby. They succeed at last through in vitro fertilization, but unwilling to risk the heartbreak of another miscarriage, they decide to make their "spare" frozen embryo available to another family.

Diana and Liam Simmons are desperate for a child. Unable to conceive, they are overjoyed to learn that as the closest genetic match to the Sinclairs they are the recipients of the embryo donation. Diana's only concern is her mother's disapproval of IVF, but any doubts raised are quickly eclipsed by Diana's joy of being pregnant.

As Diana is finding delight in every aspect of motherhood, Catriona keeps waiting for the rush of adoration she knows she is supposed to feel, but instead slips into a deep depression. Just as Catriona begins to find her way back to normalcy, one of the babies is kidnapped. Suddenly, all of their lives begin to unravel and intertwine, and none of them will ever be the same.

Places to find the book:

ISBN: 9781455565986

on 5th July, 2016

Pages: 384

Published by: Center Street (@centerstreet.com)
an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. (@HachetteBooks) via Hachette Nashville

Formats Available: Hardcover & Ebook

Trade Paperback has a #PubDay of 4th April, 2017 (ISBN: 9781455565993)

Converse via: #motherhood, #IVF or #mumhood

+ these two in combo: #Contemporary #Suspense

About Amanda Ortlepp

AMANDA ORTLEPP lives in Sydney, Australia, where she is already at work on her second novel.

Photo Credit: Philip Klaunzer

Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads

Posted Tuesday, 26 July, 2016 by jorielov in Adoption, Australia, Australian Literature, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut in United States, Debut Novel, Family Drama, Family Life, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, Kidnapping or Unexplained Disappearances, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Loss of an unbourne child, Medical Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Mother-Son Relationships, Psychiatric Facilities, Realistic Fiction, Sudden Absence of Parent, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction, Women's Health

Blog Book Tour | “Been Searching for You” by Nicole Evelina

Posted Wednesday, 13 July, 2016 by jorielov Been Searching for You, Lawson Gartner Publishing, Nicole Evelina 2 Comments

Acquired Book By:

A bit of an interesting back-story, in regards to how I came to participate in this blog tour on behalf of Nicole Evelina’s debut Contemporary Rom release: “Been Searching for You”! I met her stories through the Historical releases attached to the Guinevere Trilogy (see also: Daughter of Destiny & Camelot’s Queen reviews) wherein I garnished a deep appreciation for her writing style and the methodology of incorporating her research into a historical timeline where legend, lore and memory can collide quite beautifully together! If you visit those reviews, you’ll understand why I have such an affinity for her style of writing!

She approached me about potentially reading her Contemporary Rom and I was overjoyed at the suggestion, as regular readers of my blog will recognise this one area of Romance Lit I am eager to discover but find it hard tracking through the plethora of releases to find a ‘style of Contemporary Rom’ that whets my thirst for stories set in our modern times. I’ve had a bit of good luck with the authors via ChocLitUK and with the Mary McNear series set at Butternut Lake; both of which I readily think of nowadays for Contemporary mainstream romance whereas if I think about INSPY my mind instantly goes to Brenda S. Anderson (see Chain of Mercy)!

Therefore, I was directly invited to participate in this blog tour, hosted by Goddess Book Tours via the author Nicole Evelina. I received a complimentary copy of “Been Searching for You” direct from the author Nicole Evelina in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I wanted to read ‘Been Searching for You’:

I love well written relationship-based Romances but also, ones where you can see a thread of hope for love – no matter how old you are and no matter where you are on your path in life.

*I have to read this book!* No seriously — for a romantic optimist whose a singleton — I just have to read this! Thanks for writing such a lovely novel!!

-initial reactions I shared with Ms Evelina on behalf of Been Searching For You

It goes without saying that anyone who is delighted to read uplifting stories of entwining souls finding each other would be thrilled to bits to read the premise of this novel! My anticipation to read it’s chapters and find out how Annabeth found the one person who understood her and loved her as much as she loved him was definitely a story I knew I *had!* to read! I love reading Romance Fiction because at the heart of every story, is the journey towards finding someone who gets you without having to define who you are to them and who accepts you just as you are whilst believing in you unconditionally. Love and Romance are a lift of joy to read – I have the tendency to yield to the historical past moreso than the present, but it’s simply because I’m seeking a particular kind of Contemporary Rom!

As forementioned, nearly all the Contemporary Romances I’ve been able to pull my heart inside were published by ChocLitUK or set in a lovely small towne called Butternut Lake! One exception are the realistically authentic novels of Brenda S. Anderson (in regards to her Coming Home series) where you find compelling characters who are in the middle of a life altering circumstance to change their stars. I have a feeling I’ll have a similar reaction to the Contemporaries by Julie Lessman, as I know her Contemporary style & Historical differ a bit from each other, but when you truly love an author’s collective work you tend to move between genres with them. This isn’t always the case but most times it’s quite accurate of my reading habits. Prior to being a book blogger, I would claim the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber and her Blossom Street series as being of interest alongside Sherryl Wood’s Sweet Magnolia’s series.

Another Indie Author who caught me at ‘hallo’ is T.S. Krupa, especially in regards to her debut and sophomore Contemporary Women’s Fiction releases: Safe and Sound and On the Edge. Krupa has such conviction and such emotional depth to her sequences, they grab you straight in the heart! Kamy Wicoff’s Wishful Thinking was such a genre-bender explosion of loveliness I have the tendency to forget it’s a Contemporary Romance! Laughs. As you can see, I love brilliantly conceived stories with realistically compelling characters in pursuit of love, happiness and the joys of living their lives on their own terms.

Technically, the stories of Coorah Creek also apply except being they are Contemporary Westerns, I held back from including them, opting instead to highlight the stories set within modern settings with contemporary women seeking a partner who truly understands her rather than seeing straight past her! I also omitted the Rom Suspense novels I love from Clare Chase, Henriette Gyland and Amanda James or the PNR wicked reads I love from Sarah Tranter, Berni Stevens and Christina Courtenay for similar reasons.

Been Searching For You

Annabeth is a hopeless romantic who believes in soul mates. In fact, she’s been writing to hers each year on her birthday since she was 16.

Now, at 34, she’s still holding out hope of finding Mr. Right even though he’d be fighting an uphill battle to gain her trust, thanks to a traumatic experience years before that’s left her unable to commit.

When Annabeth meets a handsome literature professor named Alex on her 34th birthday, she thinks her quest may finally be at an end. Things don’t quite go as planned, so Annabeth resolves to do everything she can over the next year to find the unknown recipient of her letters. But blind dates, Meetup events and online singles sites have nothing on what fate has in store for her when a co-worker unexpectedly quits and Annabeth finds herself working in close quarters with both Alex and her long ago ex, Nick. Fighting her attraction to one and loathing for the other, Annabeth is forced to face all of her old insecurities while keeping an eye on a scheming frienemy who may derail her hopes and dreams.

Written in the tradition of Bridget Jones' Diary, Kim Gruenfelder’s A Total Waste of Makeup, and Melissa Pimental’s Love By The Book, it shows that love on the sweet side can exist for the modern girl, if only she’s willing to trust herself and search hard enough. Been Searching for You was the winner of the 2015 Romance Writers of America Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests.

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780996763165

on 2nd April, 2016

Pages: 312

Collective works of Nicole Evelina:

Guinevere Tale Trilogy: Book No. 1 Daughter of Destiny (review)

Guinevere Trilogy: Book No. 2 Camelot’s Queen (review)

Guinevere Tale Trilogy: Book No. 3 Mistress of the Legend releases late 2016/early 2017

Madame Presidentess (Book Synopsis) #PubDay 25 July 2016

About Nicole Evelina

Nicole Evelina is an award-winning historical fiction and romantic comedy writer. Her current novel, Been Searching for You, a romantic comedy, won the 2015 Romance Writers of America (RWA) Great Expectations and Golden Rose contests.

She also writes historical fiction. Her debut novel, Daughter of Destiny, the first book of an Arthurian legend trilogy that tells Guinevere’s life story from her point of view, took first place in the legend/legacy category of the 2015 Chatelaine Awards for Women’s Fiction/Romance, and was short-listed for the Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction. Later this year (2016), she will release Madame Presidentess (July 25), a historical novel about Victoria Woodhull, America's first female Presidential candidate, which was the first place winner in the Women’s US History category of the 2015 Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction.

Nicole is one of only six authors who completed a week-long writing intensive taught by #1 New York Times bestselling author Deborah Harkness. Nicole has traveled to England twice to research the Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, where she consulted with internationally acclaimed author and historian Geoffrey Ashe, as well as Arthurian/Glastonbury expert Jaime George, the man who helped Marion Zimmer Bradley research The Mists of Avalon.

Nicole is a member of and book reviewer for the The Historical Novel Society, and Sirens (a group supporting female fantasy authors), as well as a member of the Historical Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, Women Writing the West, Broad Universe (promoting women in fantasy, science fiction and horror), Alliance of Independent Authors and the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Author biography was updated July 2016.

Posted Wednesday, 13 July, 2016 by jorielov in 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Chicago, Contemporary Romance, Dating & Humour Therein, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Equality In Literature, Fly in the Ointment, Indie Author, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Modern Day, Romantic Comedy, Singletons & Commitment, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction

Category: Life of Thirty-Somethings

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features) and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

About Sheryl Browne

Read More

About Carla Kelly

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features) and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

About Jules Wake

About Amanda Ortlepp

About Nicole Evelina

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):