Blog Book Tour | “A Moment Forever” by Cat Gardiner

Posted Wednesday, 31 August, 2016 by jorielov A Moment Forever, Cat Gardiner, Vanity & Pride Press 4 Comments

Acquired Book By: I have been hosting blog tours with Poetic Book Tours whilst hoping to engage in hosting Small Press titles that are reflective of the diverse breadth of literature I welcome into my readerly life each year. This is why I was most delighted by the blog tour for ‘A Moment Forever’ as it simply felt like the type of World War era drama I would love to curl up inside reading! I received a complimentary copy of the novel “A Moment Forever” by the author Cat Gardiner in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my thoughts shared herein.

What I enjoyed about learning about ‘A Moment Forever’:

Do you consider your novel to be a time slip or a time shift story? For instance, does the continuity of how it’s being told ‘slip’ between the two years of importance or does time ‘shift’ between perspectives of your lead characters? What do you like most about the styling of bending ‘time’ to the will of your muse?

Gardiner responds: I would consider A Moment Forever (AMF) a time slip-shift story. LOL. There are actually four lead characters, two in each time period, and the perspective does change. The main story that we begin with is in 1992 and it shifts and slips every few chapters back to 1942. The 1992 discovery of “something” in a letter will follow with the details of that “something” in 1942, painting the picture, drawing the reader into the life of our WWII couple, building their relationship until the climax of reunion five decades later. This was integral because I wanted the reader to see our 1942 lovers as those vibrant, youthful hearts in 1992 when they finally come back to each other.

One detail that I loved about AMF was that both eras are 20th Century historical fiction, both requiring research. The shifting and the timeline continuity was a challenge for my muse, but I dig challenges. I took her to task many times on Facebook because there were occasions when she wanted to stay in 1942 and I had to get her mind back to more modern times. Music helped … and copious amounts of wine.

I had to smile where you felt your novel fits both descriptions! Especially you’ve described how you’ve anchoured the story-line to certain pertinent revelations per ‘time of era’, I agree with your assessment of where this fits within the framework of time slip or time shift narratives! It had to be a ready challenge – not just to layer the story through it’s convicting core of thought but to control what was revealled (how, when, why, etc) whilst needling through the eyes of your characters, too! Smiling at the mention of wine – red or white, I wonder? I’m definitely into ‘red’. Music is such a beautiful constant in my own writerly endeavours – I love Hearts of Space for cluing into my muse.

-quoted from my interview with Ms Gardiner

Whenever I find out about a war drama set during the World War eras, there is a good chance I’ll find my way into tucking inside the story-line and being caught up inside the drama unfolding around me as I soak inside the author’s story. I have the tendency to focus on stories stateside, throughout Europe and especially centred in focus between the UK and France. One reason this particular war drama appealed to me is how it’s a curiously time slip which shifts forwards and backwards in order for the fuller context of the story to be absorbed. I have a small weakness for time slips and shifts, so it wasn’t too hard to realise I’d be smitten by an interest to read this release! The added joy was being able to interview the author ahead of this review! We share a lot of mutual interests even though if out of the two of us, I’m the self-declared pack rat with a purpose! Laughs.

This will mark my first review for Vanity & Pride Press ahead of my first Austenesque sequel by Pamela Lynne coming in Autumn 2016! I look forward to that as I want to pick up my readings of Austen this Autumn & Winter, as I have dearly missed tucking inside the canon of Austen inasmuch a few sequel authors who’ve garnished my attention by how their choosing to re-invent the focus on beloved characters for generations of readers! I, myself, am only familiar with PRIDE, so it will be a lovely journey to dig back into PRIDE sequels whilst attempting my first readings of the two Austen novels I was gifted as a 1st Year Book Blogger!

Thus, there is more to come featuring the duo behind “Vanity & Pride Press!”

A Moment Forever

In the summer of 1992, a young writer is bequeathed the abandoned home of a great-uncle she never knew. The house has a romantic history and is unlike any home she has ever seen. Juliana Martel felt as though she stepped into a time capsule—a snapshot of 1942. The epic romance—and heartache—of the former occupant unfold through reading his wartime letters found in the attic, compelling her on a quest to construct the man. His life, as well as his sweetheart’s, during the Second World War were as mysterious as his disappearance in 1950.

Carrying her own pain inflicted by the abandonment of her mother and unexpected death of her father, Juliana embarks on a journalist’s dream to find her great-uncle and the woman he once loved. Enlisting the reluctant assistance of a man whose family is closely related to the secrets, she uncovers the carefully hidden events of her great-uncle’s and others’ lives – and will ultimately change her own with their discovery.

This story of undying love, born amidst the darkest era in modern history, unfolded on the breathtaking Gold Coast of Long Island in 1942. A Jewish, Army Air Forces pilot and an enchanting society debutante—young lovers—deception—and a moment in time that lasted forever.

A Moment Forever is an evocative journey that will resonate with you long after you close the book. Romance, heartache, and the power of love, atonement, and forgiveness transform lives long after the horrors and scars of the Second World War have ended.

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9780997313000

on 28th May, 2016

Pages: 600

Published By: Vanity & Pride Press (@VPPressNovels)

Converse via: #HistFic, #HistRom, #WWII, #HistoricalFiction or #HistoricalRomance

About Cat Gardiner

Born and bred in New York City, Cat Gardiner is a girl in love with the romance of an era once known as the Silent Generation, now referred to as the Greatest Generation.

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, Romance Writers of America, and Tampa Area Romance Authors, she and her husband adore exploring the 1940s Home Front experience as living historians, wishing for a time machine to transport them back seventy years.

She loves to pull out her vintage frocks and attend U.S.O dances, swing clubs, and re-enactment camps as part of her research, believing that everyone should have an understanding of The 1940s Experience™. Inspired by those everyday young adults who changed the fate of the world, she writes about them, taking the reader on a romantic journey. Cat’s WWII-era novels always begin in her beloved Big Apple and surround you with the sights and sounds of a generation.

She is also the author of four Jane Austen-inspired contemporary novels, however, her greatest love is writing 20th Century Historical Fiction, WWII-era Romance. A Moment Forever is her debut novel in that genre.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Wednesday, 31 August, 2016 by jorielov in 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Multi-Generational Saga, New York City, Poetic Book Tours, Postal Mail | Letters & Correspondence, The Nineties, The World Wars, Vulgarity in Literature, War Drama, War-time Romance

Book Review | #whoaretheclan | “To Trade the Stars” (Book No.3 of the Trade Pact Universe) by Julie E. Czerneda #FuellYourSciFi with Jorie!

Posted Tuesday, 30 August, 2016 by jorielov DAW Books, Julie E. Czerneda, Penguin Group (USA), The Clan Chronicles, The Trade Pact Universe, To Trade the Stars 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I was invited to participate in Julie E. Czerneda’s #futurespasttour wherein I am continuing my readings of The Clan Chronicles where I left off last November. I participated in the #timeandstarstour on behalf of the seventh volume of The Clan Chronicles ‘This Gulf of Time and Stars’. I reached out to the author to sort out a way to read her entire series spilt between two trilogies: Stratification (the prequel) and The Trade Pact (inaugural trilogy) which launched the series as a whole. She offered to have DAW Books send me the series in paperback editions which I was blessed to receive and would have finished reading if I had hadn’t taken ill shortly after I read “A Thousand Words for Stranger”. Due to personal reasons between the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, I was not able to continue my readings until now. I have spent a lot of hours contemplating what ‘comes next’.

This year, I reached out to her publicist at DAW (at the author’s suggestion) to receive “The Gate to Futures Past” to conclude the scope of the series ahead of the final novel. I spoke to Ms Czerneda about completing my readings of her beautifully conceived hard sci-fi series by releasing my reviews of the books in graduated succession during the #futurespasttour; she agreed it would be a great way to celebrate. Therefore, ‘Ties of Power’ kicks off my showcases on Monday, 22nd of August, followed by ‘To Trade the Stars’ on Tuesday, 30th August finishing ‘the Trade Pact Universe’ trilogy. I am anchouring the Reunification reviews together on 1st & 2nd of September.

I received a complimentary copy of ‘To Trade the Stars’ the first novel of original trilogy better known as The Trade Pact Universe. I was not obliged to post a review or share my impressions or opinions on behalf of these stories. I am posting my thoughts for my own edification and to help encourage new readers to meet the characters Czerneda created especially if like me, they are discovering The Clan Chronicles for the first time!

On where we left off into The Clan Chronicles:

As I disclosed on my review of Reap the Wild Wind this is my first reading of the works by Julie E. Czerneda. This is my continuing journey deep into the heart of The Clan Chronicles whilst conversing on Twitter via the tag #whoaretheclan. Occasionally alternating with #TheClanChronicles and #futurespasttour.

The greater good in regards to Drapsk society was underpinned by their innocence and their desire to re-claim their own legacy. This is something that Sira noted on their behalf as she was becoming more familiar with their beliefs, customs and traditions whilst caught up as a Contestant in their search for the Mystic One. I could gather from the offset this was a pivotal moment for her as much as the Drapsk as they were not one to bend to logic or for any assertions on her behalf (as she questioned how they could view her as a special person of interest to their race) to test the theories of their culture. I had a feeling the Drapsk had a continuing story-line moving forward with as much of the importance as the state of the Clan itself. As mentioned in this snippet of my review:

The continuity moving through the Trade Pact is as bang-on brilliant as the one I had found in Stratification! You can see the stitchings of how this installment was cast within the previous volume, but so too, how Czerneda has carried forward the counter-measures of Sira’s Clan to act both for her interests and against her at the same time. There are two factions brewing closer to war – a war of mind, power and control, such is the way of the Clan. If they cannot control their source of power and the succession of the channels of where the power is funneling through each new generation, the Clan feels they have failed. Theirs is always a battle to achieve more and stabilise the insurrection that began the moment Sira felt she was strong enough to overtake the Clan’s Council. In some ways, I think she could have if she wasn’t knocked down along the way by those who would seek her help only to back-stab her in the end. A curious tenure of moving forward only to feel as if your moving backwards at a pace that is not set by yourself but by those whose intentions are never fully in view of your own mind. – quoted from my review of Ties of Power

The Clan itself was undergoing changes in its power structures – not in their sources of energy per se but in the structure of how they organised themselves. They had certain people at key levels of control who were not acting with the best interest of the Clan but rather their own motivations towards completing their own acts of harming the continuity of the Clan’s organic growth and evolution. At the heart of the conflict is the insistence that all changes within the fabric of the Clan’s biometric existence cannot be altered, changed or evolved. They are quite fastidious about not wanting any of their kind to ‘out best’ each other or to find a new level of existing that is not known to the collective of the Clan.

Counter-current to their biologic growth patterns is the rarely spoken fact Humans in this sector of the universe are experiencing their own set of changes, too. The hint towards that end was in the telepathical instincts foreseen in Morgan (Sira’s beloved) and how he was able to harness the power within his mind; even if for most of his life he walked in the darkness of not understanding it’s worth. This changed in perception and understanding when he crossed paths with Sira but evenso, now that he has embraced his power of telepathic thought energy, the difficulties now lie in being able to have self-control when he is at the height of his angered state where emotionally he experiences energy spikes in his behaviour. He’s not the best for wanting to temper his reactory instincts but without a modicum of self-control, his gift could become his downfall; which he well understands.

There was a moment of compassionate empathy in the middle of Sira’s time on the Drapsk homeworld that truly left such a strong impression on me as I read the trial of her choice. She felt with all of her emotions now that she was a fusion of both of her past(s); the one who was known as Sira Morgan and the one who was known to the Clan. Hers was not an easy life to walk but somewhere along this complicated route she had grown in the strength of understanding selfless acts of compassion. What she did for a species she had never encountered before was sombering and how she did it was such a beautiful testament of how the M’hir could be used for good rather than for evil. (all of this is contained in Chapter 25)

Shortly thereafter, we were encompassed by how the M’hir can function outside of its usual pursuit; having a lifeblood of its own accord and a particular standard of existence. Yet I oft felt how the M’hir worked or even interacted with others outside of the Clan was still being disclosed one story at a time. This is what was so incredibly layered about the series overall; Czerneda teases you at first with forehand knowledge that is necessary to dig inside the hard sci-fi elements she is expanding on per each installment, but then, you will find yourself arriving at passages such as the ones in Chapters 29 and 30.

This is one of the biological pathways of Czerneda’s breadth of expansion within the Clan Chronicles; she encourages you to take second and third ‘looks’ at everything you think you understand whilst giving you a biological reasoning behind why certain ‘things’ can be affected by cause and effect disturbances which seek to risk the status quo. It’s this compelling argument that has real-world applications if you seek to re-articulate what she’s trying to show you about how living environments are far more complex than what humanity understands on the superficial level of their complexity.

To Trade the Stars
Subtitle: The Trade Pact Universe #3

Synopsis on the Back Cover:

Jason and Sira

he a human telepath and independent trader, she now Speaker for the Clan Council, as well as Jason's life partner - are trying to forge a life for themselves free of the demands of both the Clan and the Drapsk, a race determined to claim Sira as the long-awaited Mystic One. And as if these conflicting demands aren't making life complicated enough, there are at least two other factions with far more dangerous intentions seeking them out.

Any hope Sira and Jason have of charting their own course seems likely to vanish forever when they are unexpectedly caught in a conflict between the Drapsk and a mysterious race that dwells in the M'hir. With all of their energies directed towards this crisis, will they become easy prey for those among the Clan and the Humans who are already mobilizing to take advantage of the coming conflict?

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 978-0-7564-0075-0

Series: Trade Pact Universe

Also in this series: A Thousand Words for Stranger, Ties of Power

on 1st June, 2002

Pages: 496

Published By: DAW Books (@DAWBooks)
an imprint of Penguin Group USA

Cover Artist: Luis Royo | Site | Twitter | Facebook

The Clan Chronicles:

Reap the Wild Wind (Stratification trilogy, No.1)
Riders of the Storm (Stratification trilogy, No.2)
Rift in the Sky (Stratification trilogy, No.3)
A Thousand Words for Stranger (Trade Pact Universe, No.1)
Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe, No.2)
To Trade the Stars (Trade Pact Universe, No.3)
This Gulf of Time and Stars (Reunification, No.1)
The Gate to Futures Past (Reunification, No.2)

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback and Ebook

About Julie E. Czerneda

Julie E. Czerneda Photo Credit: Roger Czerneda Photography

Since 1997, Canadian author/editor Julie E. Czerneda has shared her love and curiosity about living things through her science fiction, writing about shapechanging semi-immortals, terraformed worlds, salmon researchers, and the perils of power. Her fourteenth novel from DAW Books was her debut fantasy, A Turn of Light, winner of the 2014 Aurora Award for Best English Novel, and now Book One of her Night`s Edge series.

She began her first fantasy series: Night’s Edge with A Turn of Light, winner of the 2014 Aurora Award for Best English Novel. A Play of Shadow followed, winning the 2015 Aurora. While there’ll be more fantasy, Julie’s back in science fiction to complete her Clan Chronicles series. Reunification #1: This Gulf of Time and Stars, came out in 2015. #2: The Gate to Futures Past released September, 2016. Volume #3: To Guard Against the Dark, follows October 2017.

An award-winning editor as well, Julie’s edited/co-edited sixteen anthologies of SF/F, including the Aurora winning Space Inc. and Under Cover of Darkness. Her most recent anthology is the 2017 Nebula Award Showcase, published May 2017, a singular honour.

Next out will be an anthology of original stories set in her Clan Chronicles series: Tales from Plexis, out in 2018. When not jumping between wonderful blogs, Julie’s at work on something very special: her highly anticipated new Esen novel, Search Image (Fall 2018).

Biography updated November 2017
Photo Credit: Roger Czerneda Photography

Posted Tuesday, 30 August, 2016 by jorielov in #FuellYourSciFi, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Original Illustration & Design, Book Review (non-blog tour), Canadian Literature, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Equality In Literature, Hard Science Fiction, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space Opera

Author Interview | Conversing about Japan, the Hiro Hattori Novels & the 16th Century with Susan Spann!

Posted Tuesday, 30 August, 2016 by jorielov Hiro Hattori Novels, Prometheus Books, Seventh Street Books, Susan Spann, The Ninja's Daughter 4 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I’m wicked happy bringing you a conversation I had recently with Ms Spann – the author of my beloved Cosy Historical Mysteries: the Hiro Hattori Novels, set in 16th Century Japan! For booklovers who have an appreciation of Japanese culture and tradition, this is a special treat to your readerly wanderings, as Ms Spann has a tenacious focus on maintaining authentic historical layers of insight & intrigue within her wickedly crafted mysteries!

The pleasure for me has been following her series since the second novel released whilst back-reading the debut! I have had the joy of following alongside Hiro & Father Mateo as they journey towards seeking out justice & truth in an age where secrecy ruled more in favour of conspiracies than honest revelations of what happened. The two are a duo of sleuths, each utilising their own personal approach to rooting out the truth from those who would seek to obliterate it from being discovered, striking a beautiful balance inside a friendship built on a foundation of trust & honour.

I love how through each new volume, the setting expands outward to encompass more of Japan and Japanese culture! This is visually an impressive series but it’s how through compassion and trans-culture awareness Spann stitches together a series that is more than a ‘Historical Mystery’ it’s a guiding map towards opening our own awareness of a culture we might not have had the pleasure of studying or knowing in such an inter-personal way as we do now!

As you will see in our conversation, Ms Spann has the joy of visiting Japan on yearly adventures wherein she curates research with a physical presence of seeing the cross-section of Ancient & Modern Japan. I am hoping you are as moved by her recollections and photographs of this beautiful country as I was myself! Whilst enthralled to find out a few ‘hintings’ of joy about what is coming to our bookish hearts *July 2017!*

Brew yourself a cuppa & enjoy the convo!

Why I love reading the Hiro Hattori Novels:

Ms Spann keeps you keenly invested in being aware of not only the current plot thickening before your eyes, but the concurrent story-lines which came prior to the one your reading! You have to keep observant and the wicked challenge is piecing all the lovely clues together which add into the depth of where the series is grounded. I love finding an author whose symmetry for carrying a series forward is never overshadowed by an installment but rather brightened by how all the stories within the series broaden the appeal of how far reaching the series has become! It’s a special treat, as you get to dig deeper into the background of where the Hiro Hattori novels are set and how everything is fused together properly through the characters who populate the series directly. -quoted from my review of The Ninja’s Daughter

book synopsis:

Autumn, 1565: When an actor’s daughter is murdered on the banks of Kyoto’s Kamo River, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo are the victim’s only hope for justice.

As political tensions rise in the wake of the shogun’s recent death, and rival warlords threaten war, the Kyoto police forbid an investigation of the killing, to keep the peace–but Hiro has a personal connection to the girl, and must avenge her. The secret investigation leads Hiro and Father Mateo deep into the exclusive world of Kyoto’s theater guilds, where they quickly learn that nothing, and no one, is as it seems. With only a mysterious golden coin to guide them, the investigators uncover a forbidden love affair, a missing mask, and a dangerous link to corruption within the Kyoto police department that leaves Hiro and Father Mateo running for their lives.

On my connection to Susan Spann:

I started visiting the chats hosted by @LitChat in the latter months of 2013, as it was around the time of the conference at The Betsy in which I started to cross paths with regular chatters, amongst whom were Natalia Sylvester (début novelist of “Chasing the Sun”) and Susan Spann. I am unsure which month I first started to notice Ms. Spann as a friendly presence who always reminded me of myself — someone who provided cheerful commentary, engaging questions for each visiting guest author, and a wicked knowledge base on a variety of topics. Generally speaking, I always click-over to read a person’s Twitter profile, but whilst engaged in those #LitChat(s) I felt like it was this magical rendezvous for the bookish and those who are attuned to bookish culture.

In this way, it wasn’t until I learnt of Blade of the Samurai was going on a blog tour that I decided to discover a bit more about her! In so doing, I learnt who she was ‘behind the curtain’ so to speak! I always considered her one of my ‘friends in the twitterverse’ but I never disclosed this to her until I was on the (Blade of the Samurai) blog tour in September 2014! Such serendipity as the tour brought us a bit closer and I am grateful that Twitter is a social-positive method of reaching past our distances in geography to connect to people who share a passion for the written word. We have continued to remain in touch although we do not get to ‘meet-up’ on Twitter as often as we once did due to our schedules in recent years.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Spann through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst attending #LitChat or in private convos. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author, whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their series in sequence of publication.

Posted Tuesday, 30 August, 2016 by jorielov in 16th Century, Blog Tour Host, Cosy Historical Mystery, Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Mystery, Japan, Japanese Fiction, Japanese History, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Reader Submitted Author Interview

Author Interview | Conversing with Historical Fiction novelist Cat Gardiner about her war drama (Liberty Victory) series!

Posted Monday, 29 August, 2016 by jorielov A Moment Forever, Cat Gardiner, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Vanity & Pride Press 2 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

If you are arriving on my blog curious about where my *book review!* for “A Moment Forever” went off too, I made the conscious choice to ‘invert’ my blog tour days this week, as I needed a bit more time to finish my readings of the novel! I had some pretty epic tech issues this month (courtesy of my resident lightning storms! a summer exclusive!) which pushed my deadlines into each other inasmuch as created a lot of ‘downtime’ from all the frustrative non-connectivity I was experiencing!

Ergo, you will happily be delighted to find out I’m posting my lovely conversation with a fellow Janeite whose an antique & letter-writing loving Historical novelist! Give a warm welcome to Ms Gardiner, today!

As you know, I appreciate getting the chance to speak with the writers of whom I am reading throughout my readerly adventures here at Jorie Loves A Story! It provides a gateway to entreat into the ‘behind-the-book’ scenes of how stories are crafted and created inasmuch as giving me a chance to ask direct questions about a writer’s personal approach to their story-telling style! I have a soft spot for Historicals (ahem! not a shock, eh?) and especially for war dramas wherein we get to re-live a particular period of where living memory & history collide. I have the tendency to focus on the World War eras of the 20th Century, however, I have been trying to expand outside of it as well. More on this will be revealled in September when I share my readings of “The Bridges of Constantine” & “Chaos of the Senses”.

Right now, what I found so wondrously curious is how a writer who loves digging into the after canon sequels of Jane Austen’s world & characters has found a way to ‘treat’ one of her creative stories within that world to a ‘new’ conceptionalised historical drama set during WWI.I. It’s quite the premise for sure, and as you will see, my own inklings to learn a bit more about the writer & the story’s layers inspired most of this conversation!

I look forward to reading your commentary in the threads below this post & if your on the blog tour, I look forward to visiting your posts after I conclude my own readings of the novel! Til then, I hope this conversation itches out a bit of your own curiosity about Historical dramas & the timelessness of reading stories of love & courage!

This also marks my *first!* novelist I am hosting from a Small Press being featured by Poetic Book Tours, as I started hosting their poets! The added blissitude for me, is finding the writing duo behind Vanity & Pride Press, as I will be featuring one of their Austenesque sequels lateorn in *October!*

In the summer of 1992, a young writer is bequeathed the abandoned home of a great-uncle she never knew. The house has a romantic history and is unlike any home she has ever seen. Juliana Martel felt as though she stepped into a time capsule—a snapshot of 1942. The epic romance—and heartache—of the former occupant unfold through reading his wartime letters found in the attic, compelling her on a quest to construct the man. His life, as well as his sweetheart’s, during the Second World War were as mysterious as his disappearance in 1950.

Carrying her own pain inflicted by the abandonment of her mother and unexpected death of her father, Juliana embarks on a journalist’s dream to find her great-uncle and the woman he once loved. Enlisting the reluctant assistance of a man whose family is closely related to the secrets, she uncovers the carefully hidden events of her great-uncle’s and others’ lives – and will ultimately change her own with their discovery.

This story of undying love, born amidst the darkest era in modern history, unfolded on the breathtaking Gold Coast of Long Island in 1942. A Jewish, Army Air Forces pilot and an enchanting society debutante—young lovers—deception—and a moment in time that lasted forever.

A Moment Forever is an evocative journey that will resonate with you long after you close the book. Romance, heartache, and the power of love, atonement, and forgiveness transform lives long after the horrors and scars of the Second World War have ended.

Jorie, I am so happy to be here and to share with you and your followers a little about myself. Your questions were so thought provoking! Thank you for the invite and being part of A Moment Forever’s blog tour.

Likewise, I am thankful I was able to anchour my reflections on behalf of my first reading of one of your novels with this conversation! I appreciated getting to ask questions pertaining to your

writerly life & sharing a bit of extra insight with my readers & the visitors of the tour, alike!

How did you create the tagline of “The 1940s Experience” when you set out to blog and create your online niche? Was it motivated by the stories you wanted to tell or was it due to a passion for the era ahead of writing stories set during its decade?

Gardiner responds: The tagline sort of came from several avenues. Since the heart of my WWII romance novels focus on the American home front (specifically New York City), I wanted to bring the reader into my research world, into the day-to-day life that their parents or grandparents more than likely experienced. Couple that with my venture, beside my husband, into WWII reenacting, it seemed an appropriate tagline. As I make the past come alive for me, I truly enjoy sharing it with my readers, real experiences of real people in The Greatest Generation.

Posted Monday, 29 August, 2016 by jorielov in Aftermath of World War II, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Poetic Book Tours, Reader Submitted Author Interview, War Drama

Non-Fiction Book Review | “The Full Tank Life: Fuel your dreams, ignite your destiny” by Ben Tankard Find out more about the girl behind the blog whilst seeing how this book inspired her to re-examine where she is on her life’s path.

Posted Sunday, 28 August, 2016 by jorielov Ben Tankard, FaithWords, Hachette Book Group Inc., The Full Tank Life 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a new reviewer for Hachette Books and their imprints, starting with FaithWords which is their INSPY (Inspirational Fiction & Non-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 wicked happy I can review for their imprints Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords & Center Street.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Full Tank Life” direct from the publisher FaithWords (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 felt reading The Full Tank Life would be a good idea:

I’m not the kind of girl who regularly seeks out ‘self-improvement’ non-fiction releases, as there are some of us who gravitate towards these kinds of books on a regular basis and then there are those of us (like me) who are quite selective in what they are looking towards finding inside them. When I first read the synopsis for The Full Tank Life, I was happily surprised by what Mr Tankard was eluding towards being revealled inside his inspiringly motivating guide towards self-actualising your own destiny.

One of the things I do not regularly share on Jorie Loves A Story is my personal life, as I have become in the habit of separating my personal life with my online life ever since I first started blogging. This doesn’t mean to say I’m not personally revealling certain bits of my life spilt into the book showcases and author interviews I’m featuring on my blog or in convos I’m happily engaging in on the twitterverse,.. it simply means that I found a balance between what I wanted to share on a public platform and what I wanted to keep private. Part of my choice to do this is because I knew one day I would become a published author, and I felt it was best to practice the duality of my reality early-on rather than wait til the day arrived and I was fully unprepared how to tackle being online in a world that craves insta-information on everything!

The reason I am bringing this to your attention, is because like most people in today’s socioeconomic uncertain world of stability and longevity of personal sustainability, my own path has taken it’s fair share of detours towards the realisation of my own personal life goals. Part of the reason I wanted to start my blog Jorie Loves A Story is to firmly take a full step forward into my future by starting to focus on the authors I enjoy reading whilst re-developing my own appreciation for literature. I was looking for a segue out of the stagnancy of where my hours were yielding back then, to where I was not exactly moving ‘towards’ where I wanted to be but I wasn’t exactly in the middle of a black hole either!

I have been a seeker all of my life, and one of the things I have sought the most is to find a way to carve out my own destiny towards realising my dreams. I have happily lived a non-traditional unconventional life by today’s standards (i.e. school, career, marriage, children, etc) wherein I’ve been blessed to re-focus on my developing my writer’s craft and sorting out what truly inspires me to create my own stories. In the background, I’ve taken the less travelled route to help my family during difficult times, including though illness and death.

The past three years I’ve been a book blogger haven’t quite been the easiest by half, but they have led to such an incredible girth of self-awareness and self-development, I can honestly say my blog started off being my saving grace through the tides of where life can take you before developing into a platform of where I can leave notes of gratitude or criticism to authors whose stories alight in my hands to read. I started off Jorie Loves A Story as a reader’s blog without realising all along it’s a writer’s blog full of the beautiful joy of serendipitous discoveries wherein the ‘writer’ behind the blog has sought enlightenment through the craft of stories but has become enlightened through the journey itself!

This month (August, 2016) marks my 3rd #blogbirthday where I launched Jorie Loves A Story *live!* a handful of months prior to joining the world of tweets and real-time conversations in November of 2016. As soon as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Day, 2016 I sensed this might be the year where I undertook a Renaissance on Jorie Loves A Story, where the reader embraces her writerly path and where the blog re-focuses it’s shift of purpose spilt between continuing the foundation of where it began but increasing it’s outreach to include secondary modes of expression and communicating the path a girl in process of realising her writerly dream can endeavour to step out of it’s original roots.

On that vein of thought, I’ve been in transitional flux on a personal level, where it’s one thing to believe in yourself and the path you’ve set out to walk but sometimes it’s absent of the particulars that tie together your present with your future. This is why I sought out reading The Full Tank Life because for three years I’ve been running Jorie Loves A Story on half a tank and would love to one day say I’ve accomplished the balance I was seeking whilst anchoured in the faith to understand the journey I had to take to realise it. All of what you have read and have seen on this blog has been a walk of faith and the future of where Jorie Loves A Story is moving next is wicked exciting but the girl behind the blog is patiently awaiting the hour where prayer and actuality coincide to manifest her path in the way she had endeavoured to see into fruition.

The Full Tank Life
Subtitle: Fuel your dreams, Ignite your destiny

Modern-day Renaissance man and star of Bravo's Thicker Than Water Ben Tankard offers powerful motivation and practical tools to empower readers to find their destiny and create an action plan to unlock it.

As a pastor, pilot, motivational speaker, bestselling Gospel/Jazz musician, and reality TV star, Tankard has a lot of experience with both success and failure. He has learned that our greatest opportunities often come from our greatest disappointments. Today, he is doing what he was born to do, and he knows it didn't happen by accident. Tankard encourages readers to examine seven key elements-Dreams, Environment, Subconscious, Time, Inspiration, Network, and You, sharing his life-tested secrets to help readers find their own way. Including fresh insights on familiar Bible passages, wisdom from Tankard's own setbacks, and laugh-out-loud stories, Tankard shows readers that they too can have a "full tank" life.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781455538294

on 30th August, 2016

Pages: 208

Published by: FaithWords (@FaithWords)
an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. (@HachetteBooks) via Hachette Nashville

Formats Available: Hardcover, Audiobook & Ebook

Converse via: #INSPYbooks, #nonfiction, #motivationalbooks + #TheFullTankLife

About Ben Tankard

Ben Tankard Photo Credit: Ben-Jamin' Universal Music

BEN TANKARD is the godfather of Gospel/Jazz music and has sold over 4 million copies of his award-winning instrumental albums.

He and his family star in NBC/Bravo's Thicker Than Water--The Tankards, which was the network's highest rated freshman reality show with over 14 million viewers in its first season.

A true Renaissance man, he also serves as a motivational speaker for the NBA, designs a line of men's clothing, and pilots his own plane. Together with his wife Jewel, he pastors a growing church outside of Nashville, TN.

Photo Credit: Ben-Jamin' Universal Music

Posted Sunday, 28 August, 2016 by jorielov in Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), FaithWords, Non-Fiction, Philosophy