Cover Reveal | NEW #ChocLit novel by Jane Lovering “Can’t Buy Me Love”!

Posted Tuesday, 31 May, 2016 by jorielov Can't Buy Me Love, ChocLitUK, Jane Lovering, Yorkshire Romances series 6 Comments

If your a regular reader or frequent visitor of Jorie Loves A Story, you know I’ve been smitten with the novelists who publish their relationship-based Romances with ChocLitUK for a good two years now! I love being on the cusp of learning about a ‘new release’ whilst I remain patient to see if the Digital First new ChocLit novel will make it to a print release further down the road of it’s lifetime. I don’t mind the gaps between the ebooks and the print editions – as it’s always given me the pleasure of balancing my ‘next ChocLit reads’ to include both Front List and Back List offerings. Thus, I am enjoying being a member of the Reveal Team at ChocLit whilst it gives me a chance to introduce my readers to a variety of sub-genres within Romance I appreciate picking up to read!

The Yorkshire Romances are getting a sixth entry into the series with this new release, which I am thankful to be highlighting this last day of May! It brings everything a bit full circle! I wanted to highlight the rest of the series, in case you are new to reading ChocLit or new to reading Jane Lovering, as I myself, haven’t yet had the pleasure either!

The Yorkshire Romances in sequence:

Please Don’t Stop the Music (Synopsis)
Hubble Bubble (Synopsis)
Star Struck (Synopsis)
How I Wonder What You Are (Synopsis)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (Synopsis)

The Yorkshire Romances are one of the series I felt I should focus on this year, as Ms Lovering has been adding to the series since I first started to review for ChocLit! I have slowly seen new stories emerge throughout this series and one of them (I Don’t Want to Talk About It) was the topic of one of our recent #ChocLitSaturday chats wherein it inspired us to chat on the topic of: how to write an emotionally dramatic story but maintain a bit of levity. Ms Lovering was absent during the chat, and I was most delighted to report to her afterwards, it became quite the lively discussion – whilst we were giving a nod to her latest release as well!

Throughout May, as I resumed hosting #ChocLitSaturday after a short hiatus, I have re-directed our chats back to focused discussions as well as keeping in the know for upcoming ChocLit releases – giving the chat a platform to help introduce new readers to ChocLit (which I have striven to do since I created the chat) as new releases become available. I enjoy selecting topics that correlate with the releases as much as I like seeing how we go OT (off-topic) to help continue to generate the camaraderie that has knitted us all together. This was one of the chats that sparked new interest by new chatters to join us, as we are continuing to grow our audience, two years after our first #ChocLitSaturday!

What is interesting to mention, is this is one series I was considering reading out of order, as some of the story-lines appealed me to out of sequence with their publication order! Ironically or no, Please Don’t Stop the Music was one of the first ChocLit novels a bookish of friend of mine read after I suggested she take a chance on reading one of the authors – as I was having such a blast discovering ChocLit myself – it was one of the first times a friend of mine was as wicked happy for the discovery as I had been myself!

I have had the pleasure of knowing first-hand how quirky Ms Lovering’s humour can be as I had the joy of having her presence in #ChocLitSaturday until her schedule conflicted with our chat hour. It was such a shame – as although I understand when writers and readers both have to duck out of the chats, she managed to leave me in chucklements and stitches simply by how she expressed herself or added light-hearted additions to any topic we were chattering about! Her presence was surely missed, and happily returned this past #ChocLitSaturday as she helped celebrate Berni Steven’s upcoming PNR release to continue where Dance Until Dawn left off!

What a lovely pleasure to celebrate a second new novel by Ms Lovering in one month! Below you will find out about the premise behind the sixth installment of this series & my initial take on what it will reveal to me as a reader – whose still sorting out which book to read first! Laughs.

Posted Tuesday, 31 May, 2016 by jorielov in 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Book Spotlight, ChocLitUK, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Modern Day, Romance Fiction

Blog Book Tour | “Loving Eleanor” by Susan Wittig Albert

Posted Monday, 30 May, 2016 by jorielov Loving Eleanor, Persevero Press, Susan Wittig Albert 0 Comments

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

Why I wanted to read ‘Loving Eleanor’:

I admit I’ve been charmed by the previous releases on behalf of Ms Albert, especially a nod towards her China Bayles series as I am a tea drinker who loves reading Cosy Mysteries – however, even her Cottage Tales and the Historicals she’s written with her husband have fetched my eye! I even have the first of the China Bayles series – still awaiting me to peruse it’s chapters, as I originally began reading it during a readathon in August of 2013 when I first launched Jorie Loves A Story live to the world – who knew in a few months, I’d be celebrating my third blog birthday so soon after my third blogoversary this past March?

I was especially pleased to see the author moving into the curious branch of writing Biographical Historical Fiction – as this is a particular preference of mine as a reader! I have oft-times mentioned how I seek out these kinds of stories for the fusion of reality, history and a closely personal touch of insight on behalf of the person who lived whose come back to life against the pages! I love soaking into the shoes of living persons, feeling their emotional connection to their lives and watching how things played out for them.

For me, I find I have hours of enjoyment nestled inside a Biographical Historical Fiction novel – one nod of assurance in this regard is how many lovelies I’ve previously found and devoured, whilst finding Ms Albert is writing about the women I most want to know more about! I have appreciated Eleanor Roosevelt since I was a young girl – she was extraordinary due to how she broke tradition and how she lived a life on her terms. I never could quite put my finger on which biography to read first, until I saw this book come into my life! I thought for once, I finally have found the right author who can pen the truer story behind who Eleanor was in her private life!

Thus, it’s quite fitting, this shall be the first novel I’ve read in full by Susan Wittig Albert! I know I will be picking up her mysteries, if my thoughts on behalf of Tea & Crumples are any indication of how I love reading about ‘tea, life and conversations’ – yet, what strikes my fancy moreso than the mysteries themselves, is to find a copy of A Wilder Rose! I grew up on the Little House series, inasmuch as I adored the Little House novels – I think it would be quite champion to read her cleverly written biographical historicals ahead of her mainstay releases!

Loving Eleanor
Subtitle: The intimate friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok

When AP political reporter Lorena Hickok—Hick—is assigned to cover Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the wife of the 1932 Democratic presidential candidate, the two women become deeply, intimately involved. Their relationship begins with mutual romantic passion, matures through stormy periods of enforced separation and competing interests, and warms into an enduring, encompassing friendship that ends only with both women’s deaths in the 1960s—all of it documented by 3300 letters exchanged over thirty years.

Now, New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert recreates the fascinating story of Hick and Eleanor, set during the chaotic years of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War. Loving Eleanor is Hick’s personal story, revealing Eleanor as a complex, contradictory, and entirely human woman who is pulled in many directions by her obligations to her husband and family and her role as the nation’s First Lady, as well as by a compelling need to care and be cared for. For her part, Hick is revealed as an accomplished journalist, who, at the pinnacle of her career, gives it all up for the woman she loves. Then, as Eleanor is transformed into Eleanor Everywhere, First Lady of the World, Hick must create her own independent, productive life.

Drawing on extensive research in the letters that were sealed for a decade following Hick’s death, Albert creates a compelling narrative: a dramatic love story, vividly portraying two strikingly unconventional women, neither of whom is satisfied to live according to the script society has written for her. Loving Eleanor is a profoundly moving novel that illuminates a relationship we are seldom privileged to see and celebrates the depth and durability of women’s love.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780989203531

on 1st February, 2016

Pages: 306

Published By: Persevero Press
(author directed publishing platform)

Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #LovingEleanor

About Susan Wittig Albert

Susan Wittig Albert is the award-winning, NYT bestselling author of the forthcoming historical novel Loving Eleanor (2016), about the intimate friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok; and A Wilder Rose (2014), about Rose Wilder Lane and the writing of the Little House books.

Her award-winning fiction also includes mysteries in the China Bayles series, the Darling Dahlias, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries she has written with her husband, Bill Albert, under the pseudonym of Robin Paige.

She has written two memoirs: An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days and Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place, published by the University of Texas Press.

Her nonfiction titles include What Wildness is This: Women Write About the Southwest (winner of the 2009 Willa Award for Creative Nonfiction); Writing from Life: Telling the Soul’s Story; and Work of Her Own: A Woman’s Guide to Success Off the Career Track.

She is founder and current president (2015-2017) of the Story Circle Network and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Site for A Wilder Rose
Site for China Bayles series | Site for Darling Dahlias series | Site for the Cottage Tales series
Mystery Novels with her husband
Story Circle

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Monday, 30 May, 2016 by jorielov in 20th Century, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Eleanor Roosevelt, Equality In Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Indie Author, LGBTTQPlus Fiction | Non-Fiction, Lorena Hickok, Passionate Researcher, Self-Published Author, Time Slip, Writing Style & Voice

Book Review | “Tea & Crumples” by Summer Kinard

Posted Sunday, 29 May, 2016 by jorielov Light Messages Publishing, Summer Kinard, Tea & Crumples 2 Comments

Acquired Book By: Whilst participating in #LitChat last Summer [2015] about Indie Publishers and the stories they publish, I found two publishers in attendance. Light Messages Publishing happily corresponded with me a bit after the chat concluded. Whilst in communication with their publicity department, I was encouraged to look through their beautifully lovely catalogue and see if one of their upcoming releases might suit my bookish curiosities. This selection was suggested to me due to my appreciation for tea: “Tea & Crumples” by Summer Kinard, who had attended the chat. If your curious about the Small Press Showcase #LitChat I attended you can replay the conversation in whole by visiting the Nurph Channel for LitChat where it’s archived.

This marks my second review for Light Messages Publishing, as I began reviewing for them with my review of “The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley” of which I loved! I received a complimentary copy of “Tea & Crumples” direct from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I applaud Light Messages as an Inspiring Publisher of Realistic Stories:

Of the two stories I picked to read first by Light Messages, it was Tea & Crumples I nearly felt I might not have the strength to read as I knew it hit on a harder story arc than I generally allow myself to read. I am mindful of my emotional sensitivities as much as other ‘triggers’ in fiction that are outside of what I can tolerate to read (most of which are listed on my Review Policy; but a few surprises still can happen despite my self-control to recognise what will affect me) – however, with this story, I felt a connection to the novel’s heart as I read about it’s premise. It’s hard to describe – sometimes I feel like I’m guided by grace and the faith I lean on everyday – my entire blog life (and my activities in Twitter) have been a walk of faith in other words.

I get certain intuitive glimpses about stories – sometimes it’s a miss on my judgment calls, but more times than naught when I feel especially keen on a story such as this one, I decide to trust that instinctive nudge to read a story! I should have realised Light Messages would challenge my heart in a good way rather than an adverse one – as despite my trepidation, as soon as I settled into the narrative and the graceful textured style Kinard’s writings spilt out into the novel – I found myself comfortably relaxed inside where Tea & Crumples would take me!

This was quite similar to how I felt wrapped up inside The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley, as I could not take my eyes off the text nor fully yield to pull myself out of the world Örnbratt created! The writers being published at Light Messages have an intuitive way of alighting their readers inside a fully conceptionalised story with strong inspirational messages and lives backlit by faith, love and hope. It’s a pleasure for a lifelong reader of INSPY fiction to discover but moreso than that, I applaud the strength of the stories they are publishing as a whole.

My third author I’ll be reading is Deborah Hining – I have a feeling she’s going to leave an equally strong impression on me, as all three authors combined have a bit of a common threading between them, if you think on it a bit! Laughs. I am simply drawn into lives of strong women who have an obstacle in life or faith affirming moment arising out of their ordinary hours to embrace. I love finding INSPY stories who have a textural element of insight of real-life inside them – where they broach inside what I refer to as INSPY Realistic Fiction as they are such hearty composites of our modern lives or the historical past; depending on the story.

I also like writers who stitch together the faith of their characters through their internal thoughts and show how faith is a cornerstone of their lives; as natural as breathing and as readily important! Thus far, I am happily soaking inside the works by Light Messages authors – finding the publisher truly understands what modern INSPY readers are seeking and how blessed we are the authors are writing such grounded stories of strength and perseverance!

Tea & Crumples
Subtitle: faith, tea, love : a novel

“Tea is how I love people.”

Welcome to Tea & Crumples where tea brewed strong with grace has the power to bring people together. The click of chess pieces and susurrus of fine papers mingle with aromas of warm pastries, tea,
and the caramel of hospitality. Through it all, the steady love of God pours out in daily rituals.

Meet Sienna, whose spiritual gifts are the heart of the shop. Walk with her as she struggles to believe in miracles even while she walks in the shadow of death under the weight of temptation.

Tea makes Sienna remember. She remembers pain in order to hold fast the joy of her lost daughter and happiness gone in order to hold fast to Peter’s love. Tea is there with Sienna when every bit of her has
been poured out. So are her friends. They keep vigil when all that’s left is faith, tea, and love.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1-61153-123-7

on 2nd November, 2015

Pages: 314

Published By: Light Messages Publishing (@LMpublishing)

Author Page @ Light Messages Publishing
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #TeaAndCrumples

About Summer Kinard

Summer Kinard is the mother of five, a tea lover, soprano, and author of inspiring novels and curricula for active learners.

She writes about faithful people overcoming trials with the help of tea, friendships, and love. Summer’s first novel, Can’t Buy Me Love, was a USA TODAY Happy Ever After pick for Women’s Fiction. Her paranormal Orthodox Christian romance, The Salvation of Jeffrey Lapin, has received glowing reviews from readers.

Summer writes about faith, tea, and love in journeys of healing. Follow her family’s journey with tea at TeaAndCrumples.com. You will find up to date posts on her writing life at her site: WritingLikeAMother.com, or follow her on Instagram for up to the moment updates. All links are below.

Balancing Life Amidst Chaos:

Although I have taken up java since I turnt twenty-nine (soon to be eight years past), there is something quite authentic about how ‘tea’ can calm your ever last nerve; the aromatherapy notwithstanding; when you brew a cuppa tea – it’s almost as if the act itself has a calming effect long before the brew sets the leaves into the water. I could readily see why Kinard showed how tea fused serenity into Sienna’s life and how the art of tea-drinking was a ritual she appreciated with her husband Peter. Tea has this way of encompassing more of your life than it detracts. I even know java won’t last as long as tea in my drinking habits, except for a return to the ‘green bean’ of Yirgacheffe (the one brew of java that tastes like tea!)!

If tea can help purport balance into one’s life, it’s healthy attributes for your wellness is equally as keen! Sienna knows tea is only one component, she leans hard on her faith even during the hours where her mental focus is off-kilter; she prays as readily as I used to find meditative bliss in the motions of Tai Chi Chaun! Sometimes your prayers change through how you approach a prayerfulness in your life’s activities; ebbing in and out of you as you find new ways to sort through your thoughts and become mindful of your spirit’s rhythm. Read More

Posted Sunday, 29 May, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, #LitChat, 21st Century, African-American Literature, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, ARC | Galley Copy, Author Found me On Twitter, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Bread Making, Cancer Scare, Christianity, Clever Turns of Phrase, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Contemporary Romance, Cookery, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Disabilities & Medical Afflictions, Equality In Literature, Family Life, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Foodie Fiction, Gluten-Free Foods, Healthy Baking, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Judaism in Fiction, Judiasm, Life Shift, Light Messages Publishing, Loss of an unbourne child, Medical Fiction, Modern Day, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Nurses & Hospital Life, Parapsychological Gifts, Realistic Fiction, Spirituality & Metaphysics, Terminal Illness &/or Cancer, Using Natural Sweeteners, Women's Fiction, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage, World Religions, Writing Style & Voice

#WWWWednesday No.6: New Publishers, #newtomeauthors & the joy of finally connecting with the stories!

Posted Thursday, 26 May, 2016 by jorielov 2 Comments

I ♥ the premise of this meme {WWW Wednesdays} due to the dexterity it gives the reader! Smiles. Clearly subject to change on a weekly rotation, which may or may not lead to your ‘next’ read providing a bit of a paradoxical mystery to your readers!! Smiles. ♥ the brilliance of it’s concept!

This weekly meme was originally hosted by Should Be Reading who became A Daily Rhythm. Lovingly restored and continued by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Each week you participate, your keen to answer the following questions:

What are you currently reading!?
What did you recently finish reading!?
What do you think you’ll read next!?

After which, your meant to click over to THIS WEEK’s WWWWednesday to share your post’s link so that the rest of the bloggers who are participating can check out your lovely answers! Score! Perhaps even, find other bloggers who dig the same books as you do! I thought it would serve as a great self-check to know where I am and the progress I am hoping to have over the next week!

To help introduce you to the books I’m reading, the Synopses link to Riffle.

If you’d like an alternative to GoodReads, I highly suggest trying Riffle*.

I’m still boggled by the fact my Riffle Lists have been viewed *21,824* times! I’ve only just started to curate the lists and embed them into my blog where I expand on why I created them, too! I have 18 Lists published out of 32 lists I’ve drafted! I am looking forward to revealling more of them this year!

Join the Convo via: #WWWWednesday

What are you currently reading!? (Wednesday 25 May to Wednesday 1 June)

Personal Library & Local Library Reads

No Stone Unturned (Ellie Stone Mysteries, No.2) by James W. Ziskin (Synopsis)
Stone Cold Dead (Ellie Stone Mysteries, No.3) by James W. Ziskin (Synopsis)

And, the books I am reading for review:

Tea and Crumples by Summer Kinard (Synopsis)
Styx & Stone (Ellie Stone Mystery, No.1) by James W. Ziskin (Synopsis)
The Bridges of Constantine by Ahlem Mosteghanemi (Synopsis)
A Place Called Hope by Philip Gulley (Synopsis)
A Sinner in Paradise by Deborah Hining (Synopsis)
Daughter of the Regiment by Stephanie Grace Whitson (Synopsis)
Scarecrow (edited by) Rhonda Parrish (Synopsis)
Almodis: the Peaceweaver by Tracey Warr (Synopsis)
Indy Reads Books (anthology) edited by M. Travis Dinicola & Zach Roth (Synopsis)

Non-Fiction Reads:

Einstein at Home by Friedrich Herneck (Synopsis)

Upcoming Blog Tours in MaY:

Loving Eleanor by Susan Wittig Albert (Synopsis) 30th May (review) & 31st May (interview)

Ever since I first started to discover the mysteries from Seventh Street Books, I’ve been a happily enchanted reader – one of my favourite Cosy Historical Mystery authors moved their series to this publisher’s imprint as well (Susan Spann) giving me a lot of joy realising how much I am loving what is being published from them recently! I kicked off the joy by reading The Secret Life of Anna Blanc (review) wherein I found such an awesome new heroine who stands up to men and carves out a brilliant slice of independence whilst finding she has a mind for solving crimes! Continuing my appreciation was the incredible discovery of the Marjorie Trumaine Mysteries which I’ll be highlighting shortly – it felt fittingly lovely to be able to try a third new author writing Crime Fiction by Seventh Street Books, when the Ellie Stone Mysteries series was pitched to me by JKS Communications.

Similar to Marjorie Trumaine, Ellie Stone is a strongly writ female lead protagonist who takes control of her life whilst daring to live it in a way that goes against convention. I love female characters like Marjorie & Ellie because they reflect a beautiful portrait of how women can take you by surprise and carve out a life most would never think they could lead. We need strong women in fiction as much as we need to highlight the women in real-life who are changing stereotypes and re-setting the standards of what can be possible.

Tea & Crumples, Scarecrow, A Place Called Hope and The Bridges of Constantine were listed on my last #WWWeds, as I had hoped back then (in February) I was on the brink of reading them. Sadly the timing was off for me and I have only just returnt to them now. Ever since I finished reading The Particular Appeal of Gillian Pugsley and finding myself so intimately stirred by heart and soul by the story within it’s pages, I have been yearning to soak back inside a Light Messages Publishing story.

I had even planned to read Tea & Crumples earlier in the Springtime, which is how I came to find the stories by Deborah Hining as I was going to follow my next review by reading A Sinner in Paradise – as I keep finding myself attracted to stories of new beginnings, redemptive plots or second chances in love – I love uncovering the Hope which becomes lit alive for the characters but also, for the lives they are touched by throughout the stories. In many ways, this is one reason despite the heartaches Marjorie Trumaine had to go through I felt so wholly connected to her small Dakota towne!

I quite literally loved reading my first novel by Stephanie Grace Whitson as she created such a realistically present novel of the historic past – she gave us flawed characters and a championing spirit of surviving the worst of what life can yield but not without losing faith and hope. These are the kinds of stories I find to be ‘guilty pleasures’ as INSPY novels have the tendency to lift you up by such a strong level of inspiration it’s hard not to walk out of those stories feeling renewed in your own spirit. Similarly, this is how I feel when I read stories by Light Messages, to be honest!

Almodis the Peaceweaver has an interesting story attached to it, especially how I came to find the story and the publisher – of which I’ll disclose when I review the book! Laughs. I wanted to mention today, I’m wicked happy I can soak inside layered historicals again as this one I believe is going to prove to be quite the engaging read whilst giving me new insight into a period of history I don’t believe I am as familiar with previously. Always a treat for me as a reader to dig further into History and pull out characters whose lives are blessedly unknown to me!

Indy Reads Books is a anthology of specially curated stories to help support Indy Reads (a bookstore that offers so much more to it’s community!) – as you might have observed, I love reading short stories, and anthologies give me the happy chance to ‘meet’ multiple new authors all at once! This is a book I have been excited about reading and I love the way in which they created it’s layout – it’s a lovely hardback edition but it’s the interior designs that caught my eye most!

True to my geeky heart, I love picking out non-fiction releases in Science that etch out a portion of my curiosities – so imagine my happiness in finding out there was a new biography of sorts on behalf of Albert Einstein publishing this lovely May!? I look forward to seeing where this Einstein revelation takes me, as I caught a wink of a nod there is a new novel emerging next year called “The Other Einstein” which was the talk of #BEA16! If only I could have gone and picked up a copy! (see my initial tweet of joy)

I have been curious to learn more about Eleanor Roosevelt since I studied the Presidents in 4th grade – we also studied the United States as a whole as apparently both are hearty topics for fourth graders! Laughs. The one person who stood out to me (there were a few others, to be honest) was Eleanor simply because she broke the traditionalism of First Ladies in my eyes – even as young as I was, I could denote she was not your typical First Lady nor did she approach that position the way anyone else had up until her husband was elected. This curated a lifelong interest to learn more about her, even though until now I haven’t quite found my footing in finding books that I felt best highlighted her life. I did find a few televised adaptations of their lives, but nothing truly spoke to me as being realistically true to her or her husband, til now. Read More

Posted Thursday, 26 May, 2016 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Discussions, Books for Review Arrived by Post, WWW Wednesdays

Book Review | “On the Edge” by T.S. Krupa a sophomore release by a #contemporary #womensfiction author I already appreciate due to her freshman story “Safe and Sound”!

Posted Wednesday, 25 May, 2016 by jorielov BookBaby, On the Edge, Self Published, T.S. Krupa, TS Krupa LLC 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I was offered to receive T.S. Krupa’s sophomore release novel “On the Edge” in exchange for an honest review. I participated in the Cover Reveal for “On the Edge” last year [May 2015] and my review was meant to follow shortly thereafter on the blog tour. Unfortunately, for me I was struck down by a nasty cold virus and I simply never could re-attach myself into the story until now. I decided to anchour my review for this novel to Ms Krupa’s third release “The Ten Year Reunion“.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of the novel “On the Edge” direct from the author T.S. Krupa. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

My keen interest in reading On the Edge:

When it comes to military families and extreme sports, I love seeing how a story can interconnect the two or focus on one of them at a time. I volunteered with Soldiers Angels in 2011 sending care packages, letters and cards to our deployed servicemen and women – learning first-hand the difficulties between those who are serving our country far away from their families and how everyone left behind on the home front is trying to make the best of a hard situation. There were startling revelations about military life – from both sides – and I am thankful I had the time I did to give a bit of postal joy to those who were never expecting to receive anything at all.

I have a soft spot for military dramas – the longest running tv serial for Military Drama is NCIS, as it’s the actual spin-off of my beloved (i.e. teenage favourite series) JAG! Anyone whose following me on Twitter will have seen my re-tweets for the cast as Tony took his curtain call (aka Michael Weatherly) as well as my joy in seeing how his story ended. It was such a bittersweet and uplifting conclusion to a character’s journey, there was not one dry eye watching it unfold! I, of course, watch the other spins as well: NCIS: LA and NCIS: NOLA with equal admiration. Concurrent to this, one of my favourite Hallmark Channel Holiday movies is “The Christmas Card” where an Army serviceman takes leave and discovers a new kind of life he never imagined he could achieve for himself.

Threading through the Butternut Lake series by Mary McNear is a military connection but also, in other stories I am picking up as well. One of the most beloved readings of Historical Fiction are the war dramas which tug at my heart and bring me to such a level of emotional conviction it’s quite hard to leave the characters once the story concludes! Hence why I am thankful the Bess Crawford mysteries are on-going rather than a mere one-off! Similarly, why I am happily entrenched inside the Charton Minster series by Margaret James – where she not only deals with the war era but after the initial three stories, the sequences shift forward revealling even more of the breadth of what she knitted into the series!

And, when it comes to extreme sports, I’m a bonefide fan of the “X-Games” inasmuch as the Winter Olympics were snowboarders & skiers defy gravity making my heart lurch out of my chest! There is something about the rush of adrenaline in combination with the skill set it takes to carve powder and accomplish a trick up in the air where heaven and earth hang in the balance awaiting your return to the ground.

Finding all these lovely elements were being explored through an emotional Contemporary Rom drama as a sophomore release by a beloved author of mine felt like a good fit as a next read! My only regret is the time difference between receiving this novel and when I was actually able to attach my heart to reading it. Sometimes the tides of life can take us away from the stories we are seeking to read, but blessedly, a new time can emerge to renew our interest – granting us the reprieve we needed all along to find out what was awaiting us in the chapters of the novel’s heart!

*Most recently I mentioned this absence from stories and a return to them, on my review of The Little Paris BookShop.

My Connection to the Author:

Although we only tweeted a few times and exchanged preliminary emails to have a special showcase of her novel Safe & Sound featured on Jorie Loves A Story, I feel as though I have had the pleasure of getting to know her a bit better in the process! And, by extension her publicist Ms. Caitlin O’Brient Bauer (of Royal Social Media). As you will see as you retreat back to the Author Interview & Live Author Q&A threads of conversation, you will find Ms Krupa to be warm, engaging, and inspiring! I am blessed twice over for our paths to have crossed and I have my Jorie Loves A Story Twitter account to thank for bringing us together! I have been blessed to continue to work with her on her future book releases, as she is an author I love to read compelling and inspiring Contemporary Rom. I came to appreciate both of them as they give book bloggers their time and grace.

In the time since I hosted Ms Krupa last year until now [May 2016], our paths have separated a bit as I wasn’t able to return too frequently to #ChickLitChat (which ended up moving strictly to Facebook) nor interact as much as I had hoped to with her via the twitterverse. I lost touch for quite a long while to be honest, and when her beautiful note arrived into my Inbox about her third release, I felt truly blessed our paths had crossed at the publication of her debut novel. She’s definitely an author I consider a blessing to have known and I look forward to following her literary career.

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 début novel. 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.

On the Edge
by T.S. Krupa
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Hafsah Faizal
Source: Author via Royal Social Media Blog Tours

Andy Parker is a war widow raising her fifteen-year-old daughter on her own. Hayden Grace dreams of becoming a professional snowboarder, and Andy is doing everything she can to make that happen. When Hayden Grace’s passion begins to falter, Andy is at a loss for how to re-inspire her daughter.

Andy does her best balancing Hayden Grace’s competition schedule, practice, and school with her own work schedule at home, in the city, and on the mountain. But work starts to demand more from Andy. Then, Andy receives an opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity that will turn their lives upside down. But is it too good to be true?

Soon, mother and daughter find themselves in Aspen for Hayden Grace’s first national competition when a chance encounter brings Andy into a passionate, unexpected romance, a romance that could change everything. Will Andy be able to find the happiness she deserves?

Genres: Women's Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Also by this author: Safe & Sound, On the Edge : Cover Reveal, The Ten Year Reunion

Published by TS Krupa LLC

on 9th June, 2015

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 318

Cover Art Designer: Hafsah Faizal of Icey Designs

Published by: BookBaby (ebook edition) | TS Krupa LLC (paperback edition)

Genre(s): Women’s Fiction | Xtreme Sports (X-Games) | Military Families

Contemporary Romance | Realistic Fiction

Converse via Twitter: #OnTheEdge

About T.S. Krupa

T.S. Krupa was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Raised in a Polish household with a blended American culture, she is fluent in Polish. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce University,where she also played field hockey. She earned her Master’s from Texas Tech University and recently graduated with her Doctor of Education from North Carolina State University. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two dogs.

In 2014, T.S. Krupa published her award-winning debut novel Safe & Sound. In 2015, she released her sophomore novel On the Edge. The Ten Year Reunion was her third novel. Big City Dreams and Big City Dreams have followed. TS Krupa is signed with SBR Media Group.

Posted Wednesday, 25 May, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, ARC | Galley Copy, Author Found me On Twitter, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Bookish Discussions, Coming-Of Age, Contemporary Romance, Dating & Humour Therein, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Father-Daughter Relationships, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Indie Author, Indie Book Trade, Life of Thirty-Somethings, Life Shift, Military Families of the Deployed, Military Fiction, Modern Day, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Motherhood | Parenthood, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Royal Social Media, Self-Published Author, Single Mothers, Small Towne USA, Snowboarding | Half Pipe OR Slope, Sudden Absence of Parent, The Olympic Games (Winter or Summer), Vulgarity in Literature, Widows & Widowers, Women's Fiction