Posted Saturday, 21 October, 2017 by jorielov Before You, ChocLitUK, Kathryn Freeman 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!
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 “Before You” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I enjoy reading Kathryn Freeman’s Contemporary Roms:
I love reading this Contemporary it was edgy on the level of taking an inside look into the Pharma Industry and it was sophisticated due to the pacing and slow-building romance. It had a lot of volley between the two lead characters which is something that I love to see as they weren’t exactly the type to admit at having an insta-attraction to each other. Both were cautious for their own reasons but it was how the romance played out in a tightly controlled working environment that had me fondly think back to certain movies that held the same appeal. On a personal note I have no idea how Tessa wore all those high heels! The descriptions made me smile but knowing what they were doing to Tessa’s feet made me cringe! Oy. Oy.
Some of the best bits for me were the cheeky moments Freeman knit into the office scenes such as Jim realising his growing attraction to Tessa or how Tessa is noticing the same feelings are returned towards Jim. Freeman cheekily highlights those quasi-embarrassing moments between two co-workers trying to keep secrets from each other. The awkward long looks, the accidental bump-ins and Jim’s growing appreciation for Tessa’s shoes was too comical for words! Likewise it developed the chemistry between the two and each of them were trying to downplay their attraction. Each hoping the other had not picked up on any subtle clues. This is exactly the kind of Contemporary Rom I love to read because it keeps you on your toes! Whilst giving you so many wicked delights as a reader to live through the moments right alongside the lead characters!
-quoted from my review of Search for the Truth
As this expresses why I love reading Ms Freeman’s fiction, the reasons why I was eagerly excited to read ‘Before You’ were actually expressed already when I hosted the Cover Reveal, where I said the following:
The lovely discovery about ‘Before You’ is that it’s centred around Formula 1 racing – the reason this is wicked to me, is because it’s a full stone of a step outside of everything I know about racing culture, lifestyle and the type of cars which buzz right round a track at such speeds to make me want to hide my eyes for fear of seeing a crash! My heart always flutters when I’m thinking about the casualty side of racing as it’s a known gamechanger for those who race and those of whom are left behind in the wake of a tragedy.
I like learning about things I am not as well versed about because it takes me inside a whole new environment to explore and to become acquainted – most enticing is how the focus on the characters inside this novel are set towards finding a path towards each other, when they’ve been living independently so long they nearly forgot to think about being a ‘couple’ and what that would entail for both of them. I like how the story starts out on the presumption about ‘who they were’ before each of them met each other and how their individual histories might in turn influence the chance they have to be together.
Before You
Subtitle: Is it a risk worth taking?
by Kathryn Freeman
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Berni Stevens
Source: Direct from Publisher
When life in the fast lane threatens to implode…
Melanie Hunt’s job working for the Delta racing team means she is constantly rubbing shoulders with Formula One superstars in glamorous locations like Monte Carlo. But she has already learned that keeping a professional distance is crucial if she doesn’t want to get hurt.
New Delta team driver Aiden Foster lives his life like he drives his cars – fast and hard. But, no matter how successful he is, it seems he always falls short of his championship-winning father’s legacy. If he could just stay focused, he could finally make that win.
Resolve begins to slip as Melanie and Aiden find themselves drawn to each other –with nowhere to hide as racing season begins. But when a troubled young boy goes missing, everything is thrown into turmoil, including Aiden’s championship dream.
Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Book Page on ChocLitUK
ISBN: 978-1781893937
Also by this author: Search for the Truth Cover Reveal, Before You Cover Reveal, Search for the Truth, A Second Christmas Wish Cover Reveal, A Second Christmas Wish
Published by ChocLitUK
on 10th August, 2017
Format: UK Edition Paperback
Pages: 339
Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)
Available Formats: Paperback & E-Book
The collective works of Kathryn Freeman I’ve been keen on reading:
Ms Freeman’s ChocLit Contemporary Roms:
Before You (see also Cover Reveal w/ Notes)
A Second Christmas Wish (see also Cover Reveal w/ Notes)
Search for the Truth (see also Review)
Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance + #ChocLit
About Kathryn Freeman
Kathryn was born in Wallingford, England but has spent most of her life living in a village near Windsor. After studying pharmacy in Brighton she began her working life as a retail pharmacist. She quickly realised that trying to decipher doctor’s handwriting wasn’t for her and left to join the pharmaceutical industry where she spent twenty happy years working in medical communications. In 2011, backed by her family, she left the world of pharmaceutical science to begin life as a self-employed writer, juggling the two disciplines of medical writing and romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero…
With two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to bother buying a card again this year (yes, he does) the romance in her life is all in her head. Then again, her husband’s unstinting support of her career change goes to prove that love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes can come in many disguises.
Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing | FantasticFiction
Posted Saturday, 21 October, 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
Posted Friday, 20 October, 2017 by jorielov HarperCollins Publishers, Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb, Last Christmas in Paris, Letters from Skye, William Morrow 5 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 “Last Christmas in Paris” direct from the publisher William Morrow in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why this #Epistolary novel captured my attention:
It will not surprise those who regularly read Jorie Loves A Story to denote the stories Jorie loves to read most these past four years have been hinged somewhere in the historical past! Of those, I tend to reside somewhere in the World War eras more readily than other eras (other timescapes I have a penchant for are the Regency, Victorian, Edwardian and Roaring Twenties) as there is always a new approach to telling a story either at war or on the home-front which resonates with my heart for Historical Fiction. When it comes to reading Ms Webb’s stories, I had the grace of finding her whilst her debut novel ‘Becoming Josephine’ was first releasing, finding a strong voice and emerging talent where I had this to say on her behalf:
Ms. Webb gives the reader a rendering of the situations and events which befit the era of the story’s origins but on the level that even a sensitive reader could walk through the scenes without blushing too severely or cringing at the imagery painted in narrative. Even though she does plainly give the raw visceral imagery its due course. She doesn’t allow it to take over completely, but allows it to fade in the background. Except for what occurs in Rose’s home of Martinique and what happens when she returns to Paris, in which the horror of the attacks are in full measure. Rather than focus solely on the horror that erupted she gave the smaller details of the aftermath which proved just as difficult if not moreso to read. Such a horrid time in history for the survivors to have lived through. She chose instead to direct the focus on Rose’s rise into the persona of Josephine who became the woman’s edificial Phoenix.
In regards to Ms Gaynor’s writings, I am only just starting to get to the point where I can focus on her writings – having picked up a copy of ‘The Girl Who Came Home’ for my thirty-fourth birthday (four years ago). It was one of three novels I came home with by authors I either knew of or dearly wanted to read next! If you visit the Cover Reveal w/ Notes I wrote on behalf of “Fall of Poppies” her links were remiss because I could not find them ahead of posting my showcase. I was meant to receive a copy to read and review but will be reading this through my local library instead.
There is a bit of a back-story about how my path crossed originally with Ms Gaynor as it goes back to #LitChat in May of 2014! Here I refer to snippets of the conversation I participated in which led me to become curious about the story I would find inside ‘The Girl Who Came Home’ and plant the seed of interest to follow Ms Gaynor’s career:
I had fully planned to host a dual-interview between Ms Webb & Ms Gaynor, however, as I had to turn my questions in rather late (within the past week or so) I am unsure if the interview will still be able to be completed at this time. I was hoping to get two perspectives on the same questions which would culminate on a lively chat about this novel and Historical Fiction. Meanwhile, I was unable to finish reading the story itself by the 13th as originally scheduled and had to push my review forward to Sunday giving me enough time to finish collecting my thoughts as I am sharing them now.
As previously mentioned last week as I reviewed ‘Dennis and Greer: A Love Story’, I have a strong passion for Epistolary Fiction – which alighted in my life quite happily when I first read ‘Letters from Skye’. Since then, I have sought out various authors and story-lines which follow either a letters & correspondence narrative or entreat through slippages in time via diaries or journals. Either way, I feel quite the zest of mirth for finding a new ‘story’ caught inside the time capsule of what is left behind through the words people write down – either to be shared or kept private for their own edification.
I hadn’t known at the time when I asked to be a part of this blog tour, I’d finally find a story written through the sequences of letters & correspondences I had first discovered in ‘Letters from Skye’! I cannot even begin to tell you how overjoyed I was at this little discovery when I first started reading the ARC! I hadn’t known when it first arrived either – as I wanted to savour reading this without doing what I usually do which is to look over a novel tip to stern – never reading out of sequence but becoming acquainted with what it contains – I sometimes read the Appendixes first, too, as those are places where Authors Notes or other such lovelies could reside or even for those of us who like a bit more information, where back-stories or research notes are presented!
I was also wicked happy for reading a new release by William Morrow – as this is one imprint I have fond memories of reviewing for off and on for the past four years! It has become one of my favourite imprints for finding convicting fiction and characters of whom give me lasting hours of joy walking beside them!
Last Christmas in Paris
Subtitle: A Novel of World War I
by Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?
Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…
Genres: Epistolary | Letters & Correspondences, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Military Fiction, War Drama Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 9780062562685
Also by this author: Cover Reveal: Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War, Becoming Josephine, Author Interview: Heather Webb (Rodin's Lover), Rodin's Lover, The Phantom's Apprentice
Published by William Morrow
on 3rd October, 2017
Format: Paperback ARC
Pages: 368
Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Converse via: #HistFic, #HistoricalFiction + #Epistolary
About Hazel Gaynor
HAZEL GAYNOR is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Memory of Violets and The Girl Who Came Home, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. Her third novel The Girl from the Savoy was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail Canada bestseller, and was shortlisted for the BGE Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year. The Cottingley Secret and Last Christmas in Paris will be published in 2017.
Hazel was selected by US Library Journal as one of ‘Ten Big Breakout Authors’ for 2015 and her work has been translated into several languages. Originally from Yorkshire, England, Hazel now lives in Ireland.
Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | LibraryThing | FantasticFiction
About Heather Webb
HEATHER WEBB is the author of historical novels Becoming Josephine and Rodin’s Lover, and the anthology Fall of Poppies, which have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Elle, France Magazine, and more, as well as received national starred reviews.
RODIN’S LOVER was a Goodreads Top Pick in 2015. Last Christmas in Paris, an epistolary love story set during WWI released October 3, 2017, and The Phantom’s Apprentice, a re-imagining of the Gothic classic Phantom of the Opera from Christine Daae’s point of view releases February 6, 2018. To date, her novels have sold in ten countries. Heather is also a professional freelance editor, foodie, and travel fiend.
Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | LibraryThing | FantasticFiction
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Friday, 20 October, 2017 by jorielov in 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Debilitating Diagnosis & Illness, Diary Accountment of Life, During WWI, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Literary Fiction, Medical Fiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Postal Mail | Letters & Correspondence, Psychiatric Facilities, PTSD, Realistic Fiction, Story in Diary-Style Format, the Nineteen Hundreds, The World Wars, Women's Fiction
Posted Wednesday, 18 October, 2017 by jorielov Arbor Farm Press, On the Rocks, Sue Hallgarth, Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mysteries 3 Comments
Acquired Book By: I have been hosting for Poetic Book Tours for a few years now, where I am finding myself encouraged to seek out collections of poetry or incredible fiction being published through Small Trade publishers and presses. I have an Indie spirit and mentality as a writer and I appreciate finding authors who are writing creative works through Indie resources as I find Indies have a special spirit about them. It is a joy to work with Poetic Book Tours for their resilience in seeking out voices in Literature which others might overlook and thereby, increasing my own awareness of these beautiful lyrical voices in the craft.
When I realised this was the first ‘book’ in a series, I requested to receive the first book in order to understand the continuity and flow between the lead characters within the second installment. It is a personal preference of mine to read series ‘in order’ and I was blessed I could start this one at the beginning! I received a complimentary copy of “On the Rocks” direct from the publicist of Sue Hallgarth in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I wanted to read the Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mysteries:
I am unsure when I first stumbled across ‘living persons’ being amateur sleuths in Mysteries & stories of Suspense – however, ever since I was first smitten by the idea, I have taken to these kinds of stories like a duck to water! I only vaguely ‘knew of’ Willa Cather – she’s the kind of woman you might hear about in literary circles as her own legacy of stories has quite the following. However, in regards to her personal life or the adventures she had as an novelist – these are the missing gaps in my knowledge! If anything, I knew her ‘in name only’ rather than of having a biographical sketch of an idea about her person.
This is one reason I am drawn into Biographical Fiction stories – generally speaking, I lean on the branch of ‘Historical Fiction’ to chart my course through time whilst alighting in the footsteps of either novelists (such as the Brontés) or well-known figureheads (such as Eleanor Roosevelt) whilst feeling a bit attached to some of the dexterities of creative muses (such as the Jane Austen Mysteries). Throughout each story I pick up to read, I am drawn closer to the ‘person’ who lived the life either being re-transmitted through a portion of their own living hours or re-identified in a different lifestyle altogether! It makes for a fascinating jaunt through time, history and known fact!
I hadn’t fused to mind ‘where’ the story was set – coming into fuller knowledge as I sat down to read the novel, I realised it was hugged close to the Canadian Maritimes – specifically the region of the Bay of Fundy and the Fundy Isles. This is an especially lovely area where artists, artisans, writers and other creatives have found a renewing peace to create in this part of the world where life is laid back & the natural scenery etches out its own inspiration to the creator. The Bay of Fundy in recent years is a bit better known due to a hard-won battle to secure the sanctity of the waters in the North Atlantic by the conjoined efforts of the Americans, Canadians & Passamaquoddy Indians.
Realising this connection, when it came time to ‘step forward’ into Ms Hallgarth’s vision for the series, I was more than ready to lay pause on her prose and feel absorbed into this area of the Northern Hemisphere where the lights like to dance, ice meets the sea and where there is an enchantment of wonderment lit over the land. It was then, I realised I was supposed to read this series!
On the Rocks
Subtitle: A Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mystery
The year is 1929 and Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Willa Cather and her partner Edith Lewis are summering on Grand Manan, an island in the Bay of Fundy. In their cottage’s sparsely-furnished attic room, Cather is at work writing Shadows on the Rock, her tenth novel. Edith is painting watercolors from the cliffs two hundred feet above the rising tides of Whale Cove.
Out of the corner of her eye, Edith sees a body plunge from the edge of a cliff to the rocks below…. Solving the mystery, first-time novelist Sue Hallgarth’s intimate view of village politics and the goings-on of two women’s communities long lost to history is also a suspenseful and surprising crime novel. Hallgarth draws the reader into a unique retreat and an inside glimpse of the lives of a great American novelist and her talented life partner.
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Find on Book Browse
ISBN: 978-0985520007
on 13th January, 2013
Pages: 262
Published By: Arbor Farm Press
Available Formats: Paperback & Ebook
The Willa Cather & Edith Lewis Mysteries:
Book One: On the Rocks
Book Two: Death Comes (Synopsis)
Converse via: #WillaCather + #CosyMysteries
About Sue Hallgarth
Sue Hallgarth is former English professor. She has written scholarly articles on Willa Cather and Edith Lewis, and Death Comes is her second book of fiction featuring the two of them. Her first book in the series On The Rocks, set in 1929 on the island of Grand Manan in New Brunswick, Canada. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico.
Website | Blog | Facebook | LibraryThing
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Wednesday, 18 October, 2017 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Amateur Detective, Apothecary, Art, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bootleggers & Smugglers, Canada, Canadian Maritimes, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Cosy Historical Mystery, Creative Arts, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Edith Lewis, Equality In Literature, Fundy Isles, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Naturopathic Medicine, Poetic Book Tours, Seclusion in the Natural World, Sisterhood friendships, Small Towne Fiction, Social Change, the Nineteen Hundreds, the Roaring Twenties, Village Life, Walking & Hiking Trails, Willa Cather, Women's Rights
Posted Sunday, 8 October, 2017 by jorielov Ballantine Books, Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War, Jessica Brockmole, Letters from Skye, Penguin Random House LLC, Woman Enters Left 1 Comment
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 copy of “Woman Enters Left” direct from the publisher Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I wanted to read this release and a note about why I had to postpone participating in the blog tour: or rather, (if you prefer) how Jorie is a lot like Ms Brockmole in her passion for Ephemera & the Historical Past!
I still remember when ‘At the Edge of Summer’ released and how enthused I was for the ‘next’ Jessica Brockmole novel – as she had truly captured everything I love about narrative prose in a uniquely stylised novel within her debut of “Letters from Skye”. Although, her sophomore release was strikingly different than her debut – I was still keenly interested in reading it – could have theoretically as my local library purchased a copy of it, however, it is one of the many titles I’ve placed myself in a holds queue to receive, finding the hours eclipsing off my clock as soon as it arrives to be read! Ergo, it’s her third novel ‘Woman Enters Left’ which is my second reading of hers, rather than my third entreaty into her literary style.
And, what a treat is is for me! I personally *love!* anything to do with the historic past and everything associated with ‘vintage or ephemera’! The two are not connected – as by the ‘historic past’ this is a broad stroke I’m using to talk about how large in scope History is to explore through literary fiction whereas when I refer to ‘vintage’ and ‘ephemera’ I’m talking about a more specific time period – generally contained within the 20th Century, though with some leanings into the 19th.
I first stumbled into vintage art practices when I took up small (mixed media) art collages in my late twenties – if your familiar with Tim Holtz, you know a smidge about what I’m referring too. Let’s just say ‘distressed inks’ were one of the greatest inventions! lol Resources such as vintage image and ephemeral discs curated by collectors and artists themselves helped move the artistic style forward for those of us unable to collect as much as we’d prefer!
However, despite taking a hiatus from my artistic wanderings (as I traded in my mixed media supplies for fibre; hereinafter being Knitty!) I still remember browsing through early-attic shoppes, vintage emporiums, yesteryear auction houses and thrift shoppes of all kinds – seeking not only the obvious, the tangible bits of the past (ie. Postcards, Letters, Photographs, etc) but the not so obvious – the artwork, the jewelry, the furniture, the quilts and the china! Have you ever just humbly browsed the dish rooms at these places? Still my soul!
You can step through a portal of time – not just observing the changes in technology and manufacturing but you can ‘touch’ time itself. You can peer into people’s lives simply by what is left behind after they’ve past on from this world and rightly, start to piece back together a fragment of ordinary life in specific time periods! This is one reason I’ve been drawn into Historical Fiction (and all it’s lovely sub-genres) – it’s a fusion of what is known, what is suspected and what is investigated (or rather sleuthed out) by writers to become ‘re-known’ once again.
I definitely could relate to the conversation with Ms Brockmole in the back of ‘Woman Enters Left’ about how one tangible fragment of the past can hold one of the keys to re-immersion into a time period earnestly being sought in today’s 21st Century world. It is similar to why I dreamt of owning a retro (manual) typewriter and was happily surprised when I saw a late 1930s/early 1940s Royal being gifted to me by my Mum and Dad a few years ago! It still needs a good cleaning and some new ink – but guess what? It still types! It is only one of many I shall be collecting to use – as I truly want to ink out my fiction and poetry on vintage typewriters – I started off with an electric typewriter before I moved to typing my words on a computer – something never quite ‘clicked’ as having the same attachment of ‘centre’ for me.
Computers are lovely (don’t get me wrong!) however, I think the Typosphere has one thing right: sometimes going back a few steps has more freedom than taking a leap forward. The Typosphere for those who are unfamiliar is a collective of typewriting bloggers – wherein, they ‘type’ their blog posts on ‘typewriters’ (most of which are vintage & retrofitted) then scanning their ‘posts’ to upload into their ‘blogs’ – hence it’s called “The Typosphere”. It’s quite the charming collective! I stumbled into their community several years ago whilst seeking out the ‘letter writers’ in our world of technology – as I’ve been a letter writer since I was eleven years old with perhaps, a decade of hiatus between then and now. It’s something I’m working towards returning too in full haste, as I do miss communicating through postal mail. There is a ‘whole’ world within the internet where people are scaling back their technologic presence and re-affirming things of the past which still are relevant for today. For those who are curious – point your browser to The Letter Writers Alliance, it’s a good place to start! Whilst the blog at The Missive Maven will be your best gateway into the community at large! If you’d like to see my Royal, direct your mouse to this Post!
In regards to the delay in my participation the blog tour, I hinted about the reason in brief during my Sunday Post; however, it is my absolute joy to have read this novel this first week of October as it was a wonderful reunion with an author I already admired and a novelist who entices us all into a special perspective on the past which has a breadth of wonder all of it’s own.
Notation on Cover Art: The arrangement of the cover design is right on ‘point’ to the title and has the best authentic to the era cognition you are hoping to find about a story which hinges on the legacy of a Mum re-visited through her daughter whose about to re-trace her steps quite unexpectedly on Route 66! Even the car, looks exactly how I was envisioning it whilst I was reading the story-line and I love her outfit!
Woman Enters Left
A woman sets out on a cross-country road trip, unknowingly tracing in reverse the path her mother traveled thirty years before.
In the 1950s, movie star Louise Wilde is caught between an unfulfilling acting career and a shaky marriage when she receives an out-of-the-blue phone call: She has inherited the estate of Florence “Florrie” Daniels, a Hollywood screenwriter she barely recalls meeting. Among Florrie’s possessions are several unproduced screenplays, personal journals, and—inexplicably—old photographs of Louise’s mother, Ethel. On an impulse, Louise leaves a film shoot in Las Vegas and sets off for her father’s house on the East Coast, hoping for answers about the curious inheritance and, perhaps, about her own troubled marriage.
Nearly thirty years earlier, Florrie takes off on an adventure of her own, driving her Model T westward from New Jersey in pursuit of broader horizons. She has the promise of a Hollywood job and, in the passenger seat, Ethel, her best friend since childhood. Florrie will do anything for Ethel, who is desperate to reach Nevada in time to reconcile with her husband and reunite with her daughter. Ethel fears the loss of her marriage; Florrie, with long-held secrets confided only in her journal, fears its survival.
In parallel tales, the three women—Louise, Florrie, Ethel—discover that not all journeys follow a map. As they rediscover their carefree selves on the road, they learn that sometimes the paths we follow are shaped more by our traveling companions than by our destinations.
Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
Find on Book Browse
ISBN: 9780399178511
on 8th August, 2017
Pages: 337
Published By: Ballantine Books,
an imprint of Random House Publishing Group
Converse via: #HistFic, #HistoricalFiction + #Epistolary
About Jessica Brockmole
Jessica Brockmole is the author of At the Edge of Summer, the internationally bestselling Letters from Skye, which was named one of the best books of 2013 by Publishers Weekly, and Something Worth Landing For, a novella featured in Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War. She lives in northern Indiana with her husband, two children, and far too many books.
Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | LibraryThing
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Posted Sunday, 8 October, 2017 by jorielov in 20th Century, Based on an Actual Event &/or Court Case, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Content Note, Debilitating Diagnosis & Illness, Disillusionment in Marriage, Divorce & Martial Strife, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Father-Daughter Relationships, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, History, Literary Fiction, Medical Fiction, Nurses & Hospital Life, Postal Mail | Letters & Correspondence, Realistic Fiction, Small Towne USA, Story in Diary-Style Format, the Roaring Twenties, West Coast USA, Women's Fiction, Women's Health
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.
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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
