#MidnightChocLit No.6 | “The Art of Deception” by Liz Harris Jorie is gobsmacked she’s read SIX #PocketChocLit novellas over the holidays! How could they be devoured! already!? More, please #ChocLit!?

ISBN: 978-1781893593

on 4th November, 2016

Pages: 160

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Pocket Paperback + Ebook and Audiobook

Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance + #ChocLit

#RomSusp or #RomanticSuspense + #PocketChocLit (Jorie’s idea!)

Put some ChocLit,

in your pocket!

#PocketChocLit

(little rhyme I came up with to celebrate these editions!)

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#WYChristmasReadathon

Posted Monday, 2 January, 2017 by jorielov in 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, British Literature, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, England, Indie Author, Italy, Modern British Author, Modern British Literature, Modern Day, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

#MidnightChocLit No.5 | “Only True in Fairy Tales” by Christine Stovell

Posted Sunday, 1 January, 2017 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Christine Stovell, Only True in Fairy Tales, Pocket ChocLit 0 Comments

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 “Only True in Fairy Tales” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

#MidnightChocLit No.5: a New Year’s treat of a quirky magical story

read by a girl who LOVES Fantasy & Magical Bits & Bobbles

Even my resident dragon is eagerly spying a snippet of this novella as a wicked good #nextread of his own! Astride his back is one of my favourite “Mum gifts” as when I was feeling especially poorly after foot surgery (in my late teens) she found a way to lift my spirits by giving me this beautifully lovely Angel Bear! The wings are so iridescent as much as the lovely star she’s holding, too! Hence why I thought it was rather a fitting shot – my Angel Bear holds a star, my dragon wants to snag this read for himself and all my #currentreads are ‘photo diving’ into the shot via the corner of one of my bookcases!

It should be known – when I started off as a book blogger, I had several bookcases stuffed to the gills with books from my personal library; although not the full collection; not even by half. I’ve been collecting books since I was knee high to a grasshopper, so you can well imagine the collection a bookish soul such as myself might acquire? However, 15 months ago I had to scale back my shelves and pack away most of my dearly beloved bookish friends til a new day when they meet each other again in the future; thus, I have two bookcases now: one for reviewing & one for my personal library selections.

There are seven ‘shelves’ if you count the fact I’m using the top shelf of the case itself as an ‘overflow’ area (laughs): the bottom is actually ‘spare space’ where I stored the one series I anguishing couldn’t finish collecting from Guideposts because despite being a subscriber to said series and told I’d get all the books; they quit printing the series and all of us were left with a non-completed set! The series is Mysteries of Sparrow Island and I think it will take me most of my life to find copies of this beautiful series readers have discarded as I have a nearly full set myself! I believe this is a full list of the series – my own copy a lovely clerk at Guideposts faxed to me years ago in an ill-attempt to secure the rest of series for me was found on one of my favourite sites for scouting out Cosy Mysteries! I promptly cancelled my second subscription for the Church Choir Mysteries and discarded all hope of picking up their other series as what is the point if they can just quit their subscriptions up out of the blue?! I digress.

The two shelves up from Sparrow Island are my ‘re-reads’ of review books I dearly want to re-soak inside and re-appreciate as soon as time and life allow me the pleasure of their returned company! The next two shelves are ‘current review books’ in-part as I have housed a lot of my ChocLit novels & novellas tucked into one half of one of the shelves (the other half of my ChocLit novels are on my second bookcase; those I never pack away!) and my Julie Lessman Library (feat. the Daughters of Boston series; 3x trilogies, plus a prequel), my Brenda S. Anderson Library (feat. the Coming Home series), my Dee Henderson books (starting with Full Disclosure; her previous series are packed) and my growing collection of stories by the lovelies of Southern Belle View (i.e. Lisa Wingate & Beth Webb Hart).

The top shelf (in theory, if you discount the upper shelf!) is housing my Science Fiction & Fantasy #currentreads (i.e. leftover from #RRSciFiMonth and being feat. in #SciFiExperience this January), my Ghost Harrison collection (by Heather Graham) and an assorted array of Suspense & Mystery novels I intend to finally dig inside in 2017 (either before or during October!). Which brings me to the upper shelf – two stacks deep occupy my #BacklogueReads (see this Riffle List), the middle stack are more Sci-Fi & Fantasy books and the last stack are books I’ve gathered to send-off to a dear friend who used to be a book blogger.

As you can see this small slice of my bookish life, I’m a girl who *devours!* literature in all it’s splendor of genre & thematic glory! I borrow quite a heap from my local library, too, per annum which rounds out the books not yet on my personal shelves but one day shall be! I segued away from my prompt though – as I was keen on saying, I love Magical Realism stories – including lighter fares of where the modern world enters into the Fantastical with little nudges, pushes and jolts. I love how Fantasy can be re-invented, re-bent and re-shaped per each writer’s vision of how a fantastical ‘something’ can be inclusive to a story-line, even if that particular story-line isn’t entirely Fantastically spun!

A bit like how one of my favourite films starring Sean Patrick Flanery (see also this Review) was the quirky Contemporary Rom Simply Irresistible. To this day, I have no clue how my tweets about his debut novel rang in so many favourites and re-tweets; my Twitter blinked into oblivion back then! Ironically or not, this particular film was his least favourite and it’s my personal favourite aside from his Young Indy films as he plays such a horrid bloke in The Dead Zone! He does redeem himself a bit though with a Contemporary Rom lead in a Hallmark Channel film – interestingly enough.

Ergo when the premise of this lovely novella mentioned ‘fairy tale’ truths – I was curiously drawn to wonder – was there a bit of magic spun into this tale or was it a play on words to where ‘as you least expect it, life shall surprise you’. Either way – if there is a spot of the magical or if it’s merely an uplift of hope for what hasn’t yet happened but will unexpectedly take the character unawares into a bit of blissitude, the story definitely caught my eye as soon as I turnt over the cover & read the blurb!

IF your just joining me for #MidnightChocLit and want to know why I conceived this wicked #awesomesauce of a readathon – please direct your attention to #MidnightChocLit No.1: You’re the One that I Want.

Join me whilst I read *six!* ChocLit novellas Christmas Week & New Year’s – as we read through the holidays with a ‘pocket of ChocLit’ in our hands! Remember: I’m tweeting LIVE as I read ahead of posting these reviews! Tweet me your reactions & add your commentary on the posts!

Only True in Fairy Tales
Subtitle: It's never too late to believe in fairy tales

It’s never too late to believe in fairy tales…

Eloise Blake has been fascinated by Prospect House, the shadowy romantic Gothic house opposite, ever since she moved to the village of Hookfield.

When its new owner turns out to be best-selling crime author, Ross Farrell, whose work is grounded in gritty reality rather than happy endings, Eloise is determined to concentrate on her tapestry design business and her rescue dog, Gracie.

She’s already given up on knights in shining armour and happy ever afters. Love, she thinks, is only true in fairy tales – even when Ross keeps appearing just when she needs help most. But is he the Prince Charming she thought didn’t exist – or is he a beast in disguise?

Places to find the book:

ISBN: 978-1781893562

on 4th November, 2016

Pages: 112

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Pocket Paperback + Ebook and Audiobook

Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance + #ChocLit

OR #PocketChocLit (Jorie’s idea!)

Put some ChocLit,

in your pocket!

#PocketChocLit

(little rhyme I came up with to celebrate these editions!)

About Christine Stovell

Christine Stovell Photo Credit: Tim Jones

Winning a tin of chocolate in a national essay competition at primary school inspired Christine Stovell to become a writer! After graduating from University of East Anglia, she took various jobs in the public sector writing research papers and policy notes by day and filling up her spare drawers with embryonic novels by night.

Losing her dad to cancer made her realise that if she was ever going to get a novel published she had to put her writing first. Setting off, with her husband, from a sleepy seaside resort on the east coast in a vintage wooden boat to sail halfway round Britain provided the inspiration for her debut novel Turning the Tide and Follow a Star. Turning The Tide was a top 100 Bestseller with Amazon Kindle and spent months in the Top 10 Chart for Adult Contemporary Romance. Christine has also published numerous short stories and articles. Christine lives in Wales. Christine novels include: Turning The Tide, Move Over Darling and Follow a Star (July 2014).

Photo Credit: Tim Jones

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#WYChristmasReadathon

Posted Sunday, 1 January, 2017 by jorielov in 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, British Literature, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, England, Indie Author, Modern British Literature, Modern Day, Romance Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Small Towne Fiction, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

#MidnightChocLit No.4 | “Marry For Love” by Christina Courtenay

Posted Saturday, 31 December, 2016 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Christina Courtenay, Marry for Love, Pocket ChocLit 0 Comments

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 “Marry for Love” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

#MidnightChocLit No.4: by the PNR & #HistRom author I love to read

Here’s what I’m thinking: if a witch & a vampire find true love – then surely the rest of us should be able too, as well, eh!? Cheeky snapshot of two of my favourite TY dolls, plus a bit of DIY creative decorating on my part with their chair done years ago in my early twenties.

Meet Rose & Dougray!

I’ve loved collecting dolls since I was quite a young girl – all kinds of dolls, from Cabbage Patch Kids to collectable dolls, to the TY dolls you see here – I believe they were called Boppers? I’m slightly forgetting their proper names, but I re-named them all the same! I have several outfits I can switch-out for both of them too, even though one day I’d rather sew my own clothes for all my (teddy) bears and dolls, so that as the seasons change so too can I seasonally represent my doll collection!

When I was thinking about the title for this particular ChocLit Novella, I no sooner than thought straight-away about how I found Rose & Dougray; as Rose came first and I found Dougray out of state whilst on a road trip wherein I saw “The Nutcracker” for the first time. Honestly, I just had a good feeling about the pair and similar to how you find companions for your dearly loved cats, sometimes you know when two dolls will make quite the match! Now, comparatively – Dougray is quite smaller in statue to Rose, which of course made me immediately think about my great-grandparents of whom were fondly known in my family for having a height difference but of not allowing that particular difference to matter in affairs of the heart!

I personally love period fashions and period dramas – I grew up reading a hearty array of Regency & Victorian Romance novellas and novels intermixed with my ready array of mysteries (a la Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and good ole Agatha Christie!), the Baby-Sitter’s Club, The Saddle Club and Classical Children’s Lit such as “Five Cousins” and other contemporaries for my elementary age. I loved disappearing into the Regency & Victorian ages of England the most – and to this day, my fondness for both eras remains steadfast!

I think this is one reason why delving further into #HistRom as a thirty-something book blogger is such a wicked sweet blast of joy! I get to visit new centuries of curiosity and new realms of where a Historical Romance can lead my heart to journey with the characters! Through ChocLit, it’s expanded to the high seas, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and making the loop through the Edwardian era inasmuch as my famed Regency!

To say I was delightfully curious about this particular novella is putting it lightly, which is why I was beyond the moon elated finding it a part of my #ChocLitChristmas parcel! Especially considering how much I love the PNR style of Ms Courtenay equally to her Historical Rom style! I even had the pleasure of featuring her quite a few times throughout 2016 – as I dug inside her #Kumashiro series (see also Review) and interviewed her during the release of The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight – of which I have a delishly special surprise in store for my readers come February! This January, I am happily continuing my readings of the Kumashiro series with The Gilded Fan and The Jade Lioness!

IF your just joining me for #MidnightChocLit and want to know why I conceived this wicked #awesomesauce of a readathon – please direct your attention to #MidnightChocLit No.1: You’re the One that I Want.

Join me whilst I read *six!* ChocLit novellas Christmas Week & New Year’s – as we read through the holidays with a ‘pocket of ChocLit’ in our hands! Remember: I’m tweeting LIVE as I read ahead of posting these reviews! Tweet me your reactions & add your commentary on the posts!

Marry for Love
Subtitle: Trapped in an intolerable marriage with no escape

Delilah cannot bear to watch as her twin sister Deborah marries Hamish Baillie, fourth Earl of Blackwood. Not only because she knows that her conniving sister has manipulated the poor man into marriage, but also because she has been in love with Hamish since she first set eyes on him...

When Delilah makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Hamish from her sister's clutches, he is grateful - but he can't help but be suspicious of her motives. Nevertheless, when it appears that Delilah may be cast out, he agrees to help by employing her as a housekeeper at his Scottish residence.

As Hamish spends more time with Delilah, he realises she is sincere. But her scheming twin was never going to let go of the Earl that easily...

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

ISBN: 978-1781893586

on 4th November, 2016

Pages: 160

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Pocket Paperback + Ebook

Converse via: #HistRom and #Regency + #ChocLit

OR #PocketChocLit (Jorie’s idea!)

Put some ChocLit,

in your pocket!

#PocketChocLit

(little rhyme I came up with to celebrate these editions!)

About Christina Courtenay

Christina lives near Hereford and is married with two children. Although born in England she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden. In her teens, the family moved to Japan where she had the opportunity to travel extensively in the Far East.

Christina’s debut Trade Winds was short listed for the 2011 Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Pure Passion Award for Best Historical Fiction. The Scarlet Kimono won the 2011 Big Red Reads Best Historical Fiction Award. Highland Storms (in 2012) and The Gilded Fan (in 2014) won the Historical Romantic Novel of the Year Award and The Silent Touch of Shadows won the 2012 Best Historical Read Award from the Festival of Romance. Christina is Chairman of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

Novels: Trade Winds, Highland Storms, Monsoon Mists, The Scarlet Kimono, The Gilded Fan, The Silent Touch of Shadows, The Secret Kiss of Darkness, The Soft Whisper of Dreams, The Jade Lioness, Marry in Haste, Once Bitten Twice Shy, Desperate Remedies and Never Too Late.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#WYChristmasReadathon

Posted Saturday, 31 December, 2016 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, British Literature, Castles & Estates, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, England, Family Drama, Father-Daughter Relationships, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Inheritance & Identity, Modern British Literature, Romance Fiction, The London Season, the Regency era, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

Blog Book Tour | “Mischief & Manors” by Ashtyn Newbold a new #PureRomance edition from Sweetwater Books!

Posted Tuesday, 27 December, 2016 by jorielov Ashtyn Newbold, Cedar Fort Inc, Mischief & Manors, Pure Romance series, 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 “Mischief & Manors” 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.

To find out why I love Sweet Romances and the #PureRomance imprint you might like to check out my previous postings for Cedar Fort blog tours, wherein I related my love of Historical & INSPY stories on my last blog tour featuring To Suit a Suitor, however, I have happily been reading the offerings of this particular imprint for quite a long while now. To follow through my readings, be sure to scroll through this tag Pure Romance!

I had originally intended to host an interview with this review on the blog tour – however, due to the circumstances that befell my family when my Dad was hospitalised with stroke, I found myself unable to pull together the two showcases for this novel. Therefore, I opted instead to feature a review and cancel the interview. I found that returning to blogging after my father’s medical emergency was a bit harder than I had foreseen and was thankful I could remain on the blog tour. This is one of the reviews I have been working on whilst my Dad has been recovering and I have found I needed more time to compose.

Mischief & Manors
Subtitle: Pure Romace

When Annette Downing and her mischievous little brothers are sent to Kellaway Manor for the summer, she hopes for a relaxing escape. But Annette soon finds her closeted heart in jeopardy when reunited with the handsome Owen Kellaway, a childhood acquaintance and respected gentleman.

When Owen is enlisted to help the boys with their behavior, Annette wonders if he has just as much mischief up his sleeve as her brothers. Bound by a promise she made to her late parents, and amid a frightening mystery, Annette faces a difficult decision when she finds herself falling for Owen's charm.

Places to find the book:

ISBN: 9781462119370

on 1st December, 2016

Pages: 272

Published By: Sweetwater Books (@SweetwaterBooks),
an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFort)

Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse on Twitter via: #INSPYRom, #SweetRomance, #HistRom + #Regency

About Ashtyn Newbold

Ashtyn Newbold discovered a love of writing early in high school. Inspired by regency period romance, she wrote her first novel at the age of sixteen. Because she can’t vacation in her favorite historical time periods, she writes about them instead. When not crafting handsome historical heroes, she enjoys baking, sewing, music, and spoiling her dog. She dreams of traveling to England and Ireland. Ashtyn is currently studying English and creative writing at Utah Valley University. She lives in Lehi, Utah, with her family.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Tuesday, 27 December, 2016 by jorielov in 19th Century, Blog Tour Host, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Content Note, Debut Author, Debut Novel, England, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Romance Fiction, Siblings, Sweet Romance, the Regency era

#MidnightChocLit No.3 | “Grand Designs” by Linda Mitchelmore the writer behind a ChocLit series Jorie is reading in January!

Posted Saturday, 24 December, 2016 by jorielov ChocLitUK, Grand Designs, Linda Mitchelmore, Pocket ChocLit 0 Comments

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 “Grand Designs” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

#MidnightChocLit No.3: a #newtomeauthor & a girl’s love for her Royal

Jorie’s preferred method of #amwriting her novels & stories: a vintage Royal typewriter from the late 1930s & early 1940s

There is a wicked sweet story *behind!* how I came into possession of this incredible machine – my dearly loved Royal, however, tonight I wanted to share my love of *typewriters!* and my growing aversion towards using traditional technologist resources to write stories! It began by a succession of computers which not only died behind the infamous ‘blue screen of death’ but due to the fact I never understood the best method towards ‘saving’ a backup of my files until I became a book blogger!

Remember: I’m old enough to remember *floppy!* 5 1/2 discs and their cousin, the 3 1/2! I am sure other GenX writers out there know what I’m referencing, too!

Then, there is the whole connective connection to writing by typewriter vs. a computer – mind you, I will always have a computer in my life, but the advantage of having a typewriter is complete immersion into the writerly process without the distractions of social media (which ahem! sometimes distracts me as a blogger!) or the curiously curious features that comes with a Win10 upgrade! I’ve gone through bouts of gaming since October, collecting ‘apps’ (oh, dear!) and had a serious addiction to “behind-the-scenes” of new tv dramas via the Win store, too! (oy, oy) A girl can get properly addicted to these new lovelies due to how user-friendly they are and how much you can honestly do on them.

I am unsure which method of writing Ms Mitchelmore used to compose her words inside her novella or in her novels, but all my future stories will be composed on my Royal and a few more retrofitted vintage typewriters I have yet to collect! There is a growing sub-culture of writers who are wicked addicted to typing their stories rather than using a more 21st Century method – the #Typosphere is calling me, too. Where you literally ‘type’ your blog posts? I will be exploring that sometime in the future – I simply need to get my Royal serviced, spruced up a bit and gather a small collection of necessary items, such as INK + PAPER. Laughs.

Trivia of Jorie: She began writing on an electric typewriter not a computer when she was writing her Science Fiction novel as a teenager – however, her earliest writings as a child were on a Commodore owned by her maternal grandfather.

I picked Ms Mitchelmore’s series to begin next as one thing I have enjoyed over the course of *2016!* is becoming further introduced to serial ChocLit! My readings of To Turn Full Circle begin in January – thus, imagine how keenly happy I was to spy this novella in my #ChocLitChristmas parcel of joy!? An early ‘preview’ if you will of an author I have been eagerly awaiting to read!

IF your just joining me for #MidnightChocLit and want to know why I conceived this wicked #awesomesauce of a readathon – please direct your attention to #MidnightChocLit No.1: You’re the One that I Want.

Join me whilst I read *six!* ChocLit novellas Christmas Week & New Year’s – as we read through the holidays with a ‘pocket of ChocLit’ in our hands! Remember: I’m tweeting LIVE as I read ahead of posting these reviews! Tweet me your reactions & add your commentary on the posts!

Grand Designs
Subtitle: You can change the house but can you change the man?

You can change the house but can you change the man?

Carrie Fraser is an interior decorator and cannot believe her luck when she is invited to work at Oakenbury Hall – a beautiful manor house in the heart of the English countryside. Nor can she quite get over the owner of Oakenbury – the gorgeous (not to mention, completely loaded!) Morgan Harrington. Morgan appears to have it all, but his previous life is clouded with sadness and heartache, which Carrie can relate to only too well. He is intent on running away from his troubled past to a glamorous, celebrity-filled existence in Cannes, but there’s a problem…

Morgan is bound by his late father’s wishes to keep Oakenbury Hall within the family and have children, and the more time Carrie spends with him, the more she yearns to be the woman to fulfil this wish. But the likes of Carrie Fraser could never be enough for a high-flying businessman like Morgan … could she?

Places to find the book: