Author: Emily Murdoch

#ChristmasReads Novella Review | “A Christmas Surprise” by Emily Murdoch feat. a Guest Post by the author after my review.#WYChristmasReadthon

Posted Tuesday, 26 December, 2017 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Book Review badge created by Jorie in Canva using Unsplash.com photography (Creative Commons Zero).

Acquired Book By: I am a hostess with Writerly Yours PR – which is run by my dear friend Priya of whom I met during a blogger panel. We have become friends through our collaborations and it has been an honour to work with her on her publicity projects for Indie authors – most of whom I have been featuring a guest author feature as I cannot read digital copies of books. In this particular instance, I was allowed to print the PDF in order to read in full for which I was thankful to the author for allowing me to do so in lieu of a paperback copy to read.

This particular story had a blog tour anchoured by Twitter chats last year wherein we attempted to break the novella down into collections of chapters and discuss the story via Twitter until time and circumstances prevented us from continuing. I have captured as much of the chats as I could which are included at the bottom of this post. I was meant to post this review on the 20th of December, 2016 however, it took me awhile to re-shift back into reading and blogging after my Dad’s stroke. This year, I felt more inclined to focus on Christmassy stories than I had last December where my reading habits were quite difficult to recapture.

I received a complimentary copy of “A Christmas Surprise” direct from the author Emily Murdoch in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I was keen on reading this story:

I personally love stories about upstairs/downstairs situations where the propriety of the past and the curious connections of those whom find themselves in love – sometimes do not hold fast to tradition. In this particular case, there is a twist of a surprise about whose heart is being wooed by which suitor and I thought it would be an interesting story to read. If only to see how the author brought the two together and how the story-line handled the twist in the end.

It was my original intention to continue to host the Twitter chats, as I had started them off by prompting directed conversations about the chapters we were reading at hand – however, most of those on the blog tour I found had read the novella ahead of the chats, whereas Priya and I were reading only the chapters pertinent to the chats to have the story ‘on mind’ to talk about as we proceeded forward. We were attempting to have it as a ‘readalong’ convo series in other words. I do regret I had to bow out of the chats, but as foresaid, I am including a capture of the chats below this review.

Likewise, I hadn’t foreseen my circumstances would have changed outright Thanksgiving weekend, and sadly, this was one of the blog tours I was not able to hold onto posting on schedule. I had tried to keep myself positioned to run this before Christmas, but I simply found my focus was limited and not where it had been prior to my Dad’s stroke. Therefore, I am running it after Christmas whilst running a succession of posts about #ChristmasReads ahead of ringing in the New Year.

#ChristmasReads Novella Review | “A Christmas Surprise” by Emily Murdoch feat. a Guest Post by the author after my review.#WYChristmasReadthonA Christmas Surprise
Subtitle: A Regency Romance

Every year for thirty years Lord Robert, the Viscount of Marchwood, throws a Christmas Ball.

But this year the Marchwood Christmas Ball holds extra importance.

His daughter, Lady Audrey, has just turned eighteen, and it is time for her to be introduced into society.

It is Audrey’s first, best, and potentially only chance of securing a husband.

Especially seeing as there are rumours that the Marchwood money is running dry.

But headstrong Lady Audrey is not sure she wants a husband.

Ever since her mother died she has been left to her own devices.

Though she is very close to her father, it was often the servants she turned to for companionship, particularly Thomas, who, five years older than her, was always the person she depended on for conversation.

She is not ready to leave everything she knows, and the thought of abandoning her father breaks her heart.

She is determined that only someone truly special will take her away from her home.

But with the ball centred around a masquerade theme, everyone is in disguise.

And a handsome stranger threatens to steal Audrey’s heart.

Could he hold the key to her heart?

And when she unmasks him will it be a good, or bad, Christmas Surprise?

‘A Christmas Surprise’ is a festive regency romance novella.


Places to find the book:

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ISBN: 9781517456153

on 30th September, 2015

Pages: 94

Self-Published Author

Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #HistRom, #HistoricalRomance, #Regency or #IndieAuthor + #ChristmasRomance

About Emily Murdoch

Emily Murdoch

Emily Murdoch is a medieval historian and writer. She has authored a medieval series and a regency novella series, and is currently working on several new projects. To stay updated on her writing and upcoming books, follow her blog and on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #WYChristmasReadathon
  • 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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Posted Tuesday, 26 December, 2017 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host

Blog Book Tour | “A Valentine Surprise” by Emily Murdoch a novella anchoured to ‘A Christmas Surprise’, two of the #Regency Roms by Ms Murdoch

Posted Tuesday, 14 February, 2017 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Book Review badge created by Jorie in Canva using Unsplash.com photography (Creative Commons Zero).

Acquired Book By: I am a hostess with Writerly Yours PR – which is run by my dear friend Priya of whom I met during a blogger panel. We have become friends through our collaborations and it has been an honour to work with her on her publicity projects for Indie authors – most of whom I have been featuring a guest author feature as I cannot read digital copies of books. In this particular instance, I was allowed to print the PDF in order to read in full for which I was thankful to the author for allowing me to do so in lieu of a paperback copy to read.

This particular blog tour was anchoured by Twitter chats wherein we attempted to break the novella down into collections of chapters and discuss the story via Twitter whilst finalising our book club discussions with a special Q&A with the author – which is scheduled to run during the blog tour itself.

I received a complimentary copy of “A Valentine Surprise” direct from the author Emily Murdoch in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I was keen on reading this story:

I originally had intended to release my review on behalf of the previous release ‘A Christmas Surprise’ anchoured through my #ChristmasReads selections this past holiday season. I setting things up to run the week after Thanksgiving with a few featured over Thanksgiving weekend – however, as most of my dedicated followers already realise, this was the weekend my Dad had his stroke (see also this post and this post). Concurrently, I’ve been struggling to find my way back into my blog – in reading regularly and blogging regularly as I am now my father’s main caregiver. To say I am seeking a bit more balance in my life at the moment is putting it mildly. However, despite the imbalance of my reading life and the gaps in my blogging life – I can attest, I’ve cured one thing recently: I re-fell in love with cooking! lol All it took was a return to the local farmer’s market wherein you can hand-select and cut your own fresh produce.

Whilst signing up for this blog tour, I was excited as I came to appreciate the writer’s style whilst reading ‘A Christmas Surprise’ – which is still going to be featured on my blog – even if it’s a few months shy of Christmas; I have a few leftover Christmas selections to release and hopefully help readers find a few to tuck away for the holidays next year. I was thankful this new novella follows the timeline of the first one – if in effect you look at it from a unique angle, this could actually serve as a back-story on how the characters are inter-connected – specifically, by way of Lady Audrey and Jonathan.

I still find it wicked amazing how the author has been threading her stories through novellas, selecting a shorter arm of narrative to tell her stories whilst still giving the reader something hearty to chew on whilst they read her stories. This is something I tried to highlight through the latest Twitter ‘book club’ chat regarding ‘A Valentine Secret’ – of which I’ll include at the bottom of this review – offering everyone on the blog tour a chance to click-through to Twitter tweet by tweet and add their commentaries to the discussion questions awaiting them. For readers who are not a part of the blog tour – I welcome your responses, as these are everyday themes which are cross-relatable to all.

 Blog Book Tour | “A Valentine Surprise” by Emily Murdoch a novella anchoured to ‘A Christmas Surprise’, two of the #Regency Roms by Ms MurdochA Valentine Surprise
Subtitle: A Regency Romance

The course of true love never did run smooth…

Jonathan Brodie, the only son of Sir Roger and Lady Brodie, has lived in the village of Maplebridge his whole life.

Penelope, the daughter of the local florist, was adopted by the Baldwins when she was just a baby.

They could not be more different and yet, one blustery January morning, their paths collide in a chance encounter that is destined to change their lives forever.

Jonathan soon discovers that Penelope is far from the quiet wallflower that she first seems, but rather a beautiful rose just waiting for its chance to bloom. After spending more and more time together, it’s not long before their feelings for each other begin to blossom.

However, when Jonathan starts investigating Penelope’s past, in order to present her with the truth about her biological parents, his grand Valentines gesture threatens to destroy any hope of a future with the woman he has grown to love.

Penelope begins to doubt Jonathan’s motives.

Is he only concerned with placating his domineering father and convincing him that she is worthy of the Brodie name?

Despite his good intentions, will Jonathan’s Valentine Secret ruin everything?

Or are two people from opposite ends of society simply destined to remain poles apart forever?

A Valentine Secret is a charming regency romance novella about never giving up on true love. ​


Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 978-1523659098

on 21st January, 2016

Pages: 112

Self-Published Author

Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #HistRom, #HistoricalRomance + book tag: #AValentineSecret

#Regency or #IndieAuthor + #ValentineRomance

About Emily Murdoch

Emily Murdoch

Emily Murdoch is a medieval historian and writer. She has authored a medieval series and a regency novella series, and is currently working on several new projects. To stay updated on her writing and upcoming books, follow her blog and on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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Posted Tuesday, 14 February, 2017 by jorielov in Adoption, Blog Tour Host, Historical Romance, Singletons & Commitment, the Regency era, Village Life, Women's Fiction, Writerly Yours PR