Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “A Mother’s Secret” by Minna Howard

Posted Friday, 13 March, 2020 by jorielov A Mother's Secret, Aria Fiction, Head of Zeus, Minna Howard 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am wicked delighted to be featuring a lovely #newtomeauthor today – as I recently had the chance to select quite a few Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction novelists to be spotlighting throughout the Spring months this year – wherein I was rather delighted finding so many keenly interesting stories to start seeking out to read! These are stories which dance between Romance & Women’s Fiction – from Contemporary to Historical settings. Being an avid reader of these genres I couldn’t miss the chance to bring the JOY of discovering these lovely authors to my readers of Jorie Loves A Story!

It is my intention to start requesting these novels via my local library if they are not available in audio formats via Scribd. At the moment my library is experiencing an unprecedented sabbatical on requests which put me in a bit of a pickle as I’m an active patron whose constantly requesting purchases every month – which is why I’m simply saving my queue lists and will turn them in once the services resume. For now at least – I can champion the discoveries and the joy of finding the stories whilst hosting the blog tours!

Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract for “A Mother’s Secret”:

As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!

I love finding unconventional family plots in Contemporary Women’s Fiction – where you alight in a person’s life whose believed their life to have had this set trajectory and path to follow and then *something!* gives them a bit of a right turn and *everything!* just switches out from under their feet from that moment forward. When I first read the plot of “A Mother’s Secret” this felt like the kind of novel where you are going to be at odds with yourself about whom you’re going to rally behind and where your own opinions will settle as you read through the storyline.

Stories about identity and parental origins are some of the trickier ones to read and I would imagine to write because you want to see a believable case for the plot to organically fall together in the narrative. Whilst at the same time – there is drama there – threading behind the revelations of the unknowns and a pot boiler of emotions, too. How will the ‘other side’ of the reveal react to the announcement and what will that mean for the everyday life and world of all the characters!?

This is what was going through my mind as I contemplated the story and it is why I am truly itching to read “A Mother’s Secret” to see how Ms Howard pulled the threads of her story together and had us volleying between two different perspectives: Verity’s and Saskia’s!

Did I grab your eye and attention?

Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.

A Mother's Secret
by Minna Howard

Verity seems to have it all. A beautiful home, two grown-up sons and a husband who has always been her rock. But one day, the doorbell rings. And it changes Verity's life forever.

Saskia has nowhere else to go. Before she died, her mother left her with her father's name and nothing else. The only way for Saskia to take care of herself – and her unborn baby – is to find the father she never knew. And the family that didn't know she existed.

This family secret means the end of everything they've ever known. But could it also be the chance for a new beginning?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Women's Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B07ZWKTQ56

Published by Aria Fiction

on 5th March, 2020

Published By: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)
a Digital First imprint of Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)

Available Formats: This is a Digital First Release

Converse via: #AMothersSecret, #Contemporary #WomensFiction Read More

Posted Friday, 13 March, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Head of Zeus, Women's Fiction

#WitchAThon | a readathon celebrating #WitchyReads – Find out what is on Jorie’s TBR!

Posted Thursday, 12 March, 2020 by jorielov (Narrator) Jake Urry, Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact, Catching A Witch, Heidi Eljarbo, Jeannie Wycherley, Leanne Leeds, Magical Midway series, Melanie Abed, Richard Storry, Spellbound Hound Magic & Mystery series, The Black Talisman, Wonky Inn series 0 Comments

Happily discovered #WitchAThon via @WitchAThon

Hosted by: @rhiannonthropp

#booktube channel: Crescent Moon Reads

I will readily admit, the last time I felt I could dive into my #WitchyReads were not the best months for me – May 2019 was the 2nd Year of #WyrdAndWonder and I began reading the Magical Midway series by Leanne Leeds. I was loving my journey into this witchy world where a magical circus was at the centre of the action and how a witch who wasn’t yet ready to embrace her heritage was the unexpected heroine of the Midway! I was struck down by too many migraines to finish my #mustreads last May and despite trying twice in the Autumnal months to make amends (including our sister event #SpooktasticReads in October, 2019) – it was my health which prevented the revisitations. I’ve been blogging about the whole diabolical cycle of unwellness off/on recently so I’ll spare the repeat here. Just know between month-long illnesses and chronic migraines it was a wicked awful six months from September to February; even if I did carve out a bit of joy at the holidays – I found the beginning of 2020 adverse from several fronts.

When I discovered this readathon I was wicked HAPPY because I’ve been wanting to just hone in on my #WitchyReads and just settle into their worlds with a heart ready to embrace their worlds. One of them I *devoured!* during #SpooktasticReads – this would be the second #WonkyInn – “The Ghosts of Wonky Inn” which arrived in my life at just the right moment to where it was a happy burst of JOY to be listening too! I love the narrator (Kim Bretton) for how she’s crafting this series together – from her performance to her innate ability to understand Alfie – I truly cannot think of a better ‘fit’ for this series than Ms Bretton because of how she’s approached voicing the lead character! Not to mention at the pen of the author – you’re in wicked good hands! The humour stitched into this series will keep your spirits lifted irregardless of what chaos is alighting in your life! Specifically this is keen to mention as we all have a tipped scale of woes if you consider the newsfeeds out there! Best to tuck into a series that will make you LAUGH more than feel unsettled by anxiety!

The more challenging story on my list is “The Black Talisman” as I was struggling a bit to get into the rhythm of the story. I am not sure if it was the timing of when I first attempted to listen to it or if I just couldn’t connect to the plot. Whichever way – the truth will let out this week because I am re-listening to this story and will see what I make of it now. The rest I look forward to discussing with you about why I’m happy their on my TBR this #WitchAThon! I did hold back one series of Witchy Reads for the next #WitchAThon – which are penned by Suzanne Palmieri.

If you missed my first #MagicalMidway review – kindly catch up to know why I love the series:

#EnterTheFantastic with #WyrdAndWonder | Book Review of the Magical Midway Series Invalid book: 0 “The Witchiest Circus on Earth” by Leanne Leeds

Likewise, if you want to know why I heart Alfie and the #WonkyInn be sure to see my first review:

An #AudiobookMonth Audiobook Blog Tour | “The Wonkiest Witch: (Book One: the Wonky Inn, series)” by Jeannie Wycherley, narrated by Kim Bretton

Share this #booktuber’s tweet!

& let them know you’re joining #WitchAThon!

The *official!* challenges for #WitchAThon this March:

Spring means rain, pick a book that involves water… on the cover, in the title, or as part of the story!

Ostara is a sabbat of rebirth, and accepting oneself as trans (including non-binary & other gender marginalizations) is often an experience of rebirth… choose a book with a trans MC!

Pan is a god of Spring, wildness, & nature, select a book where the theme of survival in nature is prominent

The light is coming back this season, let it lighten your load! choose a novella

Ostara brings about color in the natural world, choose a graphic novel!!

If you can, plant a seed of some kind and begin tending to it… if you cannot commit to plant parentage, try planting something new at a park or nature preserve (a plant that is compatible with that ecosystem)

Read the group book: THE BLACK GOD’S DRUMS by P. Djèlí Clark

I had already picked my stories to read for this #WitchAThon which is why I am unsure if any of my selections are going to match with the challenges this month. I’ll have to see as I’m reading if any of them might match the prompts in one way or another – a part of me thinks either *Anni Moon!* or *Magical Midway* might qualify for an elemental element of ‘water’ but outside of those two stories/series I am unsure if anything else would work. Will be interesting when I go to write my wrap-up post at the end of the readathon to see the results!

Posted Thursday, 12 March, 2020 by jorielov in #WitchAThon, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Reading Challenges

#MiddleGradeMarch | a readathon celebrating #MGLit | #MiddleGrade stories – Find out what is on Jorie’s TBR!

Posted Wednesday, 11 March, 2020 by jorielov Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact, Ashli St. Armant, Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, Fool's Errand, Jean Ramsden, Jenna Zark, Mary's Song, Melanie Abed, Selah's Sweet Dream, Susan Count, The Beat on Ruby's Street, The Secret Life of Lucy Liu, The Smell of Old Lady Parfum, Viva Durant & the Secret of the Silver Buttons 4 Comments

Found out via the tag #MiddleGradeMarch on Twitter

Then discovered A Dance with Books blogged about it

Whilst I traced down who is hosting: @BooksAndJams

This runs concurrently with @MGBookVillage‘s #MGBookMarch!

I’ve been appreciating Middle Grade Fiction for quite a long while now – as a book blogger, I’ve had the chance to explore this category of fiction a bit more closely than I might have on my own – however, my local library has a hearty collection of Middle Grade titles – whilst they are also open to purchase requests for either print or audiobook copies. My regional libraries are of the same mind and it makes finding Middle Grade stories to read quite lovely because there is such a wide sea of choice nowadays for readers who are of the age Middle Grade stories were initially meant to be discovered by and for today’s adult reader who likes to revisit the stories of their childhood whilst being updated for today’s market, world and audience of Middle Grade Fiction.

I first started to revisit Children’s Lit due to feeling inspired to convey selections to my nieces and nephews whilst at the same time, knowing I would be an adoptive Mum in the future – I also wanted to find stories being writ by contemporary writers who were writing the kind of stories I would feel comfortable sharing with my future children. This is partially why ever since I first started book blogging in [2013] (as 31st March, 2020 marks the start of my 7th Year) I’ve elected to feature works of Children’s Lit (known on Twitter as #KidsLit) which encompass all stages of a child’s reading life – from Picture Books to Chapter Books, to Middle Grade and Young Adult.

A Sampling of my Favourites over the Years are as follows:

Book Review | “The Walking Fish” by Rachelle Burk & Kopel Burk A new #MGLit novel speaking directly to girls & boys who love science and the curious realms they can endeavour to explore!

Book Review | “Call Me Amy” by Marcia Strykowski – a #middlegrade coming-of age story set amidst the rescue of a baby seal

Finding a readathon this March which champions #MGLit is a wicked chance for me to find redemption in reading the stories which arrived on my shelf to be reviewed but which were not able to be read the months and years they first arrived. The timing was off due to health afflictions and/or my chronic migraines – whilst I am sure there were more than a few unexpected life moments peppered in for good measure as well!

Whatever first took me away from these stories – this particular readathon is re-aligning me with these books and I am wicked thankful for it! As you’re about to find out – I have a rather eclectic mix of Middle Grade stories – from a diverse group of authors and the genres are a brilliant dance of topics, subjects and the kind of world-building I love to disappear inside! If you’re taking part in #MiddleGradeMarch this year – kindly share a link to your blog or your Twitter *thread of updates for me – as I’d love to see what you’re reading as well!

Share this #booktuber’s tweet!

& let them know you’re joining #middlegrademarch!

The Challenges I am undertaking this year:

Challenge Two: Non-Human Main Character
Challenge Three: Read a MG Fantasy novel
Challenge Four: Written in Verse (*)
Challenge Five: Diversity of Any Kind

I decided to skip round to the challenges which befit the stories I have on hand to be read this year rather than trying to seek out more titles than I honestly have time to devout to reading. In regards to the challenges I’ve picked – the only one I’m most worried about finishing is “Written in Verse” as I only have one book on hand which fits this category choice and I’m uncertain if it will even count – as various sites list this as either YA or MG depending on whose defining where it ‘belongs’ in Children’s Lit. The book is “The Crossover”.

The rest of the selections I’ve made will become quite obvious once I start talking about them! Especially as the category for “diversity” is being read from different perspectives & angles this year whilst I sadly only had *one!* Fantasy novel which was considered to be Middle Grade.

Posted Wednesday, 11 March, 2020 by jorielov in #MiddleGradeMarch, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs, Reading Challenges

#WaitingOnWednesday X | featuring NEW Contemporary Romance by Kathryn Freeman!

Posted Wednesday, 11 March, 2020 by jorielov HarperCollinsUK, Kathryn Freeman, One More Chapter, The New Guy 4 Comments

a word about ‘waiting on Wednesday’:

I have decided to start participating in this book blogsphere meme with a few small changes of how it’s regularly blogged about by my fellow book bloggers. I will either be introducing my current reads of upcoming releases as I am in the process of reading them and/or I might be releasing a book review about a forthcoming title by which I had been blessed to read ahead of publication. The main purpose behind the meme is to encourage readers and your fellow book bloggers to become aware of new books being released which caught your eye and which held your interest to read. Sometimes if your still in the process of reading the books, its the titles which encouraged your bookish heart. I look forward to spending the next seasons of the year, talking about the books I have on hand to read, the books I’ve been reading and the books I might not even have a copy to read but which are of wicked sweet interest to become a #nextread of mine.

Today I am linking with Can’t Wait Wednesday via Wishful Endings!

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

It has been a long while since I’ve had the chance to soak into a Contemporary Rom of Ms Freeman’s – as the last entry I’ve read was “A Second Christmas Wish”; which coincidentally was my first ChocLit Christmas novel. Since my initial readings of “Search for the Truth”, “Before You” and this Christmas Rom – Ms Freeman has moved to a new publishing house Once More Chapter which is the digital imprint house for HarperCollinsUK! As you might have remembered – I used to be a reviewer for ChocLitUK and this is how my path originally crossed with Ms Freeman’s novels.

I was wicked excited I could be one of her book cheerleaders to boost the news of her newest release “The New Guy” – which is a light-hearted Contemporary Romantic Comedy about the head of a company and the one bloke who might be the one who needs to stay in her life but he’s also the bloke she sort of hadn’t considered much past the fling they shared once. The premise is an interesting one – because it talks about what happens when you encounter someone in one set of situations and then, they re-enter your life in another – how do you co-merge the two encounters OR do you endeavour to keep them separate but equal in your life? There’s the rub isn’t it though? As Sam is the person in charge at her company and you could see where the complexities would evolve if rumour let out about how she and ‘the new guy’ at work first met!

I admit, I have the tendency of reading harder dramas, evocative Historicals and generally in Romance I opt for second chances, new beginnings or meet-cute scenarios whenever I am not reading my beloved Love Inspired Suspense novels which keep me on my toes for jarring suspense with a dash of romance woven into the background! When it comes to Romantic Comedies I am a bit shy of exploring the genre overall as I tend to find the stories aren’t always my cuppa – however, when I find a writer I’ve previously have loved reading in the past, taking a chance on one of their Rom-Coms isn’t a hard choice! This is why I was keenly interested in finding out more about “The New Guy” by Ms Freeman.

A bit of this new story also reminded me of my readings of “Search for the Truth” – about the complexities of workplace romances and how corporate life can be its own tricky sea of navigating a personal and professional life!

Let’s introduce you into this new novel & have you brew a cuppa whilst you read the extract Ms Freeman graciously has provided! Afterwards there is a mini Q&A, too!

The New Guy
Subtitle: She's the CEO. He was the One Night Stand.
by Kathryn Freeman

Sam Huxton doesn’t do one-night stands, especially not with men she’s just met! But the hot guy at the bar was hard to resist and one night is all they share – no names, no numbers, just some much needed fun…

Until the same guy walks into Sam’s life the next day as her new employee. Sam never mixes business with pleasure and makes it clear an office fling with Ryan is off-limits. But after-hours…one thing can lead to another. Can Sam trust her heart and her business with the new guy?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction, Romantic Comedy (Rom Com)

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B07WQ2G7QL

Also by this author: Search for the Truth Cover Reveal, Before You Cover Reveal, Search for the Truth, A Second Christmas Wish Cover Reveal, Before You, A Second Christmas Wish

Published by One More Chapter

on 13th March, 2020

Published by: One More Chapter (@0neMoreChapter_)
the digital imprint of HarperCollinsUK

This is a Digital First Release – #PubDay is 13th March, 2020!

The GOOD NEWS is the print release is scheduled for 11th June, 2020!

Converse via: #TheNewGuy + #KathrynFreeman
along with #ContemporaryRomance or #Romance

Posted Wednesday, 11 March, 2020 by jorielov in 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Contemporary Romance, Modern Day, Reader Submitted Q&A, Romance Fiction, Waiting on Wednesday

Influencer #partner with #OnceUponABookClub | Book Review for “Remembrance” by Rita Woods with special! reveals for those lovely mystery parcels in the February #ouabookclub box!

Posted Tuesday, 10 March, 2020 by jorielov Forge, MacMillan Publishers, Remembrance, Rita Woods 3 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a promotional #partner and/or Influencer with Once Upon A Book Club similar to how I receive books from publishers, authors & publicists or early review programs – I am not being monetarily compensated for sharing my experiences, impressions, reviews or the links to their website on my blog Jorie Loves A Story nor on my feeds on Twitter (@joriestory or @SatBookChat). Nor for the coupon code which is a discount for new subscribers to the Once Upon A Book Club subscription service.

Thereby, I received a complimentary copy of “Remembrance” direct from Once Upon A Book Club as part of the February Adult Box in exchange for an honest review about the gifts which connect to the story and of the story itself. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

IF you’d like to order your own Once Upon A Book Club box,

you can use my coupon code → JORIELOVES10

Why I was intrigued and excited about reading REMEMBRANCE:

I loved how we get a quote from the book itself on a beautiful card which can be framed and hung on your wall. This particular quote felt quite telling if you ponder it for a spell – how if we do not harness the ability to be ‘still’ we will miss the truths which are attempting to alight on our souls. There is beauty in that quote and a heap of wisdom as well. I cannot wait to read “Remembrance” to better understand the connection of the quote to the story.

In regards to the story itself – “Remembrance” is a story within a uniquely told timeline – as we are transporting ourselves into *three!* (not two as usually found in time bent narratives) distinctively unique timelines of interest – shifting from the contemporary modern world of Mid-West Ohio into Haiti (1791) whilst it is nearly going through a Revolution and forwards a bit into New Orleans (1857). Three women, three timelines and a depth of a story betwixt and between their lives – I don’t know about you but what could be more rivetingly dramatic and engaging than a story which offers three individualistic perspectives of a connective narrative!?