Genre: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance

A #HoHoHoRAT Book Review featuring a #Harlequin #ChristmasRomance | “Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise” by Jennifer Faye

Posted Friday, 8 November, 2019 by jorielov Harlequin Books, Harlequin Romance, Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise, Jennifer Faye 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I’ve been hosting for Prism Book Tours since September of 2017 – having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. As I enquired about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors when I’m not showcasing book reviews on behalf of Harlequin Heartwarming which has become my second favourite imprint of Harlequin next to my beloved #LoveINSPIRED Suspense. I am also keenly happy PRISM hosts a variety of Indie Authors and INSPY Fiction novelists.

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

On why I’ve been enjoying reading this author:

When I first started seeking out authors via the imprints of Harlequin, one of the authors who stood out to me initially from the Harlequin Romance line (as at the time, I was sampling stories from Romance, Super Romance & Heartwarming – sorting out which of the three imprints suited me best as a reader; as I had already realised how much the LI: Suspense line fit me!) was Jennifer Faye.

In a large part due to her consistency, her continuity when she wrote duologies, specialised focused serials and the ways in which she drew you into her Contemporary Romance worlds within this curious imprint which features pink covers in handle portable sized paperback editions! I liked the convenience of the size, the realistic characters she pulled into her world(s) and the ways in which our contemporary modern lives were explored elsewhere from where we generally live our own lives. It gave a sense of place but also, of how uniquely you can find a Contemporary placed in a setting you are itching to visit such as her Greek Isles Brides series which took me back to Greece.

I’ve enjoyed re-visiting Greece through Faye’s eyes due to how many fond memories I have of corresponding with a friend who lived on the Isles themselves. She truly captured a bit of that kind of lifestyle I had remembered reading through letters & correspondences but also, she brought a convicting narrative together which interlocked three different women in their pursuit at their own ‘happily ever after’.

Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise
by Jennifer Faye
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

A festive reunion…

…with an unexpected gift!

When Pepper Kane’s home and bakery are burned down in the weeks before Christmas, billionaire CEO Simon Ross—the man she spent one unforgettable night with—comes to the rescue! Pepper knows this playboy doesn’t do relationships, but staying with him in his penthouse and caring for an abandoned puppy, their spark is rekindled… And then comes a festive surprise that shocks them both: she’s carrying his baby!

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335499592

Also by this author: Beauty and Her Boss, Miss White and the Seventh Heir, Heiress's Royal Baby Bombshell, Carrying the Greek Tycoon's Baby, Claiming the Drakos Heir, Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring (Spotlight), Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring , The Prince and the Wedding Planner, Christmas in Bayberry, Love Blooms

Published by Harlequin Books

on 1st November, 2019

Format: Large Print Edition

Pages: 252

Published by: Harlequin Books (@HarlequinBooks)

Formats Available: Ebook and Paperback

Converse via: #Contemporary #ChristmasRomance & #Harlequin

About Jennifer Faye

Award-winning author, Jennifer Faye pens fun, heartwarming contemporary romances with rugged cowboys, sexy billionaires and enchanting royalty. Internationally published with books translated into nine languages. She is a two-time winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award, named a TOP PICK author, and been nominated for numerous other awards.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#2019NewReleaseChallenge
#HoHoHoRAT 2019

Posted Friday, 8 November, 2019 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, Family Drama, Family Life, Life Shift, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction, Sweet Romance

A #cloakanddaggerchristmas Book Review | “In Peppermint Peril” (Book One: A Tea and Read Mysteries) by Joy Avon

Posted Wednesday, 26 December, 2018 by jorielov Crooked Lane Books, In Peppermint Peril, Joy Avon, Tea and Read Mysteries, Vivian Conroy 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I often cross paths with writers in the twitterverse, as I’m a social reader who likes to engage directly with fellow book bloggers, readers, reviewers and writers. I talk with writers who are in the process of launching their writing careers inasmuch as established writers who have quite a few releases out for us to discover. The blissitude of finding this author is the fact she writes under two separate names (Vivian Conroy for Cosy Historical Mysteries; Joy Avon for the Book Tea Shop Mysteries) whilst she hosts a weekly Historical Fiction Twitter Chat I am in love with attending inasmuch as the quarterly #HistoricalFix; as you see, #HistFicChat brings all of us together who love devouring Historical stories across genres and eras of interest. It is a conversational meet-up featuring today’s Historical authors – from all gambits of the umbrella in which you could find a writer writing a Historical novel!

Due to her encouragement, I reached out to her publisher Crooked Lane Books to see if I could receive two of her novels for review – “The Butterfly Conspiracy” and “In Peppermint Peril”. I was happily surprised to receive both and this marks the first of two reviews featuring my first introductions to her characters. I elected to share both during my personal readathon within the hours of the #cloakanddaggerchristmas readathon happening between #booktube and the book blogosphere! I was unfortunately delayed until Christmas Week to begin my readings due to a bad Winter virus and am overjoyed I can finally read the stories I’ve been keenly interested in discovering!

I received a complimentary ARC copy of “In Peppermint Peril” direct from the publisher Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

The reasons why I was dearly keen on discovering

this new Cosy Mystery series:

(as much as an explanation of how I’m connected to the author)

It might not be a very well known fact – as throughout the past five years as a book blogger, I’ve been focusing on so many different genres of entrance, I am never quite sure if any of my dear hearted visitors & readers know what my top favourite genres are to explore? Ever since I met Miss Marple I have had a penchant for Cosy Mysteries; from that day forward, I also adopted a British affinity for writing them in the Brit fashion rather than the American. It felt only right being that Dame Christie is who endeavoured to inspire a lifelong passion for the genre!

Over the years, I am thankful if I can find a new author (singular) or a new series (if they prefer a serial over a one-off) within the Cosy umbrella of stories. It is a hard call really – how to find an author who is writing the kind of stories I want to be seeking out & which series therein are being written in a style that I can sink my literary teeth into with the cosy comforting joy of feeling as if I’ve entered a world I would love to reside inside for quite a long time afterwards!

Reading Cosy Mysteries has been quite a luxury – a pleasurable exploration of Crime Fiction due to how soft & gentle the writers take us into the minds of their criminals & their sleuths. It is a lighter & fluffier side to Mysteries, Suspense & Thrillers – for the most part – as sometimes Cosies can broker a fine line between Noir, Cosy & Hard-Boiled.

I have such an attachment to Cosy Historical Mysteries that I oft-time have to remind myself to seek out a Contemporary Cosy – as a book blogger I sort of side-lined my adventures into the Lady Emily series, the Mary Russell series & the Aunt Diminty series – all of which are part of my #beatthebacklist for 2019 reading challenge – however, prior to sorting out where I am traversing in Cosies for 2019, I was thankful I crossed paths with Ms Conroy (Avon) as through the conversations we’ve shared on Twitter during her chat #HistFicChat I found a like-minded spirit – someone who is as giddy happy over these Cosies as I am myself – and her readerly habits are a mirror of my own, dear hearts!

We oft find ourselves musefully talking about the same takeaways & insights into the Mysteries & Historical stories we are discussing – in that regard, it has been a benefit of minds to have met each other in the twitterverse! As how lovely is it when you find a fellow bookish soul who reads the stories you want to be seeking out yourself to read?

So, imagine my joyfulness in being able to read two of her lovely releases as typically her stories are *not released!* into print – their Digital First. I am thankful to have found an author out there who appreciates what I do in Crime Fiction and I couldn’t wait to get invested into her stories – seeing how she set the tone for her series & which of her characters would win me over the most!

Truly though – it boiled down to this: I drink copious amounts of tea, I’m in love with chai and I could literally spend a lifetime inside a library and a book shoppe without the need to exit! Combing a love of books and the art of tea into a Cosy series? The premise of that potential surely secured my interest!

In Peppermint Peril
Subtitle: A Book Tea Shop Mystery
by Joy Avon
Source: Direct from Publisher

This Christmas, Callie Aspen returns to her childhood hideout Heart's Harbour, Maine, where her great-aunt runs Book Tea, a vintage tearoom where every sweet treat contains a bookish clue. Upon arrival in the fairy-tale snowy town, Callie is drawn into the preparations for a special tea party at Haywood Hall, the rambling house of Heart's Harbour's oldest resident, rich but lonely widow Dorothea Finster, who invited her estranged relatives, old friends, and the elite of the town to make a mysterious announcement about her will.

Believing they can touch a part of her fortune, everybody is determined to come, despite not liking each other or even their hostess. And Callie's old friend Sheila complicates things by using the tea party to announce her daughter's engagement, even though her daughter isn't sure she's in love with the young lawyer her mother thinks is so perfect for her.

Catering to people who each have their own agenda isn't easy for the Book Tea crew, especially once the valuable engagement ring goes missing and a dead body turns up in the conservatory. Can Callie and her great-aunt use their love of clues to dig into the crimes and show their unhappy hostess and squabbling guests the true Christmas spirit?

Genres: Amateur Detective, Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Cookery, Cosy Mystery, Crime Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781683317937

Setting: Heart's Harbour, Maine

Published by Crooked Lane Books

on 13th November, 2018

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 288

Published By: Crooked Lane Books (@crookedlanebks)

A Tea and Read Mysteries:

(I was rather partial to the original title of the series “A Book Tea Shop Mystery”)

In Peppermint Peril (book one)

→ Sweet Tea & Secrets (book two) *forthcoming, 11th June, 2019!

Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #Conroy10, #CosyMystery + #TeaAndReadMysteries

About Joy Avon

Having spent many afternoons as a teen on the Nile with Poirot or confronting sinister spinsters in sleepy English towns with Miss Marple, it was only natural Joy Avon would start writing mysteries of her own. Besides writing, Joy enjoys hiking, collecting stationery, and trying new desserts, especially if chocolate is involved.

Twitter | Goodreads | LibraryThing | FantasticFiction

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#cloakanddaggerchristmas 2018

Posted Wednesday, 26 December, 2018 by jorielov in 21st Century, Amateur Detective, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Cookery, Cosy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Lady Detective Fiction, Modern Day, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

A very #blogmas #SaturdaysAreBookish | “Merry Hanukkah” by Debby Caruso

Posted Saturday, 22 December, 2018 by jorielov Debby Caruso, Merry Hanukkah, Self Published 2 Comments

In keeping with the change of name for my Romance & Women’s Fiction Twitter chat [@SatBookChat previously known as @ChocLitSaturday] – I am announcing a change of features here on Jorie Loves A Story. Since January, 2014 I carved out a niche of focus which I named #ChocLitSaturdays as I have felt the best time to read romantic and dramatic stories are the weekends. This spun into a Twitter chat featuring the authors of ChocLit whilst I supplied weekly topics which would appeal to readers, writers and book bloggers alike. We grew into our own Saturday tribe of chatters – then, somewhere round the time of my father’s stroke in late [2016] and the forthcoming year of [2017] I started to feel less inspired to host the chat.

I had new plans to re-invent the chat in its new incantation as @SatBookChat but I also wanted to re-invent the complimentary showcases on my blog which would reflect the diversity of stories, authors and publishers I would be featuring on the chat itself. As at the root and heart of #ChocLitSaturday the chat were the stories I was reading which complimented the conversations.

After a difficult year for [personal health & wellness] this 2018, I began anew this Autumn – selecting the stories to resume where I left off featuring the Romance & Women’s Fiction authors I am discovering to read whilst highlighting a story by the author I am chatting with during #SatBookChat. Every (forthcoming) Saturday will feature a different author who writes either Romance or Women’s Fiction – wherein I concluded the year of hosting @SatBook during October & November featuring special guest authors whose stories I have either read, were reading or had hoped to read in the future if their newer releases. Going forward, the reviews on Saturdays might inspire the topics in the forthcoming chats or they might be directly connected to the current guest author.

Our holiday break for the month of December will find us resuming #SatBookChat the week after New Year’s, 2019 where new guests and new stories will lay down the foundation of inspiring the topics, the conversations and the bookish recommendations towards promoting Romance & Women’s Fiction.

Acquired Book By: I was approached about reading this holiday-themed Women’s Fiction story shortly before the holidays began. The author found me on Twitter and I thought it would be lovely to combine reading this story with my holiday themed Cosy Mysteries – except that is before I fell ill this December and all my holiday readings were pushed forward closer to Christmas. I received a complimentary copy of “Merry Hanukkah” direct from the author Debby Caruso in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

On why this story works & why it befits reading at the holidays:

I truly was looking forward to my holiday readings this year – especially as I had the chance to read #newtomeauthors and feature a Women’s Fiction writ for the holidays – it felt like a cosy comforting reading binge this month, except that instead of spending most of the month tucked into holiday stories, I’ve been trying to battle my way through a bad Winter virus! I finally reached the point where I had to step away from books, my blog and everything inter-related to them as I was miserably down and out with one of the worst Winter illnesses I’ve had in recent years!

Late on Saturday night, I finally was able to reach a point where my lungs were giving me a rest to where I could breathe a bit easier than I have in days, allowing me the joy of picking up a story to read and finally, at long last start to make a bit of progress towards my readings into festive and bright story-lines! I wanted to read a mixture of stories this year – which is why I am delighted I can start with a light-hearted Women’s Fiction about blending holiday traditions and celebrations before I move into a lovely batch of Cosy Mysteries all uniquely themed for Christmas.

I personally love the holiday season – it is a festive way of becoming introduced to new traditions and new ways to celebrate, as well as to observe the reason why we’re all united together during the same time of the year. Having a story that seeks to merge the joy of two of the most infamous holidays in December felt like a good way to kick things off this year, as a lot of families struggle to find balance when their sorting out what do for both Christmas and Hanukkah without losing the meaning and purpose behind both traditional holidays.

I think this is a story that works well for this time of year – as it is a conversation about family, religion and heritage. Of finding what works for you as an individual as well as trying to merge new traditions into a new family where both sides need to feel comfortable in merging their back-histories together as a new bridge towards celebrating what they share in common and observing holidays in a way that unites the new path they are taking together.

Merry Hanukkah
by Debby Caruso
Source: Direct from Author

Meet Rhonda, a semi-neurotic ad agent and Christmas fanatic, who decides she's going to make a fabulous Hanukkah celeration for her new husband James and his family.

In the midst of trying to create the perfect day, Rhonda meets with various roadblocks: a hostile mother-in-law who takes the joy out of any day, recipes she can't seem to master, a looming work deadline that's sure to do her in, as well as an intrinsic belief that somehow the holidays are about something more... and that the "perfect" day isn't always what it seems.

Merry Hanukkah is for all those celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas, and for the Holiday Junkie in all of us. It's a hilarious journey revealling the truth of what we value the most: faith, family, friendship and love.

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Women's Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1732519008

Also by this author: Happy Everything, Ghastly and Good

Also in this series: Happy Everything, Ghastly and Good

Published by Self Published

on 22nd August, 2018

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 132

Self-Published Author

Converse via: #SaturdaysAreBookish + #WomensFiction or #HolidayStory

Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook

About Debby Caruso

Debby Caruso is a Native New Yorker who is also a proud Italian-American. She is the creator of novels, screenplays, short stories, poems, and no less than a million grocery lists. She can be found drinking vanilla tea or white wine on a fairly regular basis.

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | LibraryThing

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#blogmas 2018

Posted Saturday, 22 December, 2018 by jorielov in #SaturdaysAreBookish, 21st Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Christianity, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Honeymoons & Weddings, Indie Author, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Judiasm, Modern Day, Romance Fiction, Women's Fiction, World Religions

Blog Book Tour | “A Small Town Christmas” (Book One: Four Irish Brothers Winery series) by Nan Reinhardt Another early spin on #blogmas where Christmas is happily on my radar as we start to shift into the holiday season!

Posted Friday, 2 November, 2018 by jorielov A Small Town Christmas, Four Irish Brothers Winery, Jane Porter, Nan Reinhardt, Tule Publishing 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquiried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. I am unsure how many books I’ll review for them as most are offered digitally rather than in print but this happily marks one of the blog tours where I could receive a print book for review purposes. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors.

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

Why Jorie loves Christmas Romances:

Last year, I had a better start on showcasing my love of Christmas Romances & holiday stories – where I was featuring interviews and spotlights throughout the holiday season – leading up to the Christmastide directly! This year, I was focusing on seeking new holiday reads to enjoy this year as well as seeing if any of the previous years’ finds were finally available to be borrowed through my local library! Thereby, I am thankful I was able to find a few blog tours to join this year, which continue the festive celebrations on Jorie Loves A Story!

I personally love being caught up in a Christmas Romance due to the holidays themselves but also, how forgiving this season can be! It is a time of renewal and of peace – it is interesting how the season itself lends well to telling Romance. Showcasing how relationships can become built even if (characters) first feel this is the wrong time for them personally or professionally. Christmas Romances tuck me into different celebrations & traditions; uniquely arrive at different moments in time (between Contemporary & Historical settings) and give you a happiness of an afterglow for reading them the same way I feel whenever I watch the Christmas films on tv or dvd.

My favourite channel for the holidays is Hallmark, due to how light-hearted the Christmas Romances are and how they give you a drama on their sister channel Movies & Mysteries. Similarly, you could say what I read and watch during the holiday season (strictly from either late October til Twelfth Night in January) are fuelled by unexpected circumstances, arcs of forgiveness or redemption whilst the better bit is how a relationship can find traction at one of the most beautiful times we can experience in-season! The weather isn’t as harsh (wells unless your in a place that regularly gets hard-hitting blizzards!) and there is something sweet in the air.

I find these kinds of stories purely uplifting and that is why I continuously seek them out!

A Small Town Christmas
Subtitle: Four Irish Brothers Winery
by Nan Reinhardt
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

Winemaker and single father Conor Flaherty is determined to make this Christmas holiday special for his daughter even though his family’s winery, Four Irish Brothers, is facing some challenges.

High-octane Chicago attorney Samantha Hayes is looking forward to some delicious food, fine wine, small town charm, and a break from her hectic big city life when she agrees to do a favor for her boss and help his younger brother with a lawsuit that’s been slapped on his family’s historic winery in River’s Edge. She’s not expecting that her sexy new client will have a smile that will melt her heart and remind her that there’s more to life than work.

Sam falls hard for Conor, his daughter and the small, friendly town, but can she trust her instincts and risk her heart? Sam hasn’t seen a lot of happy-ever-afters in her life, but Conor and the magic of Christmas make her want to believe.

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9181949707113

Published by Tule Publishing

on 29th October, 2018

Format: POD | Print On Demand Paperback

Pages: 260

Published by: Tule Publishing (@TulePublishing)
under their imprint American Heart

NOTE: Although in the print edition this imprint isn’t mentioned on the copyright page. I believe this is strictly an in-house classification to help readers direct themselves to the kinds of stories they desire to be reading. Each imprint on Tule’s site explains the imprint’s core empathsis – which is why this particular one focuses on small townes, urban life, American culture and HEA with a sexiness heart.

Read more about Tule Publishing | via author Jane Porter’s blog

I’ve been wanting to begin reading the novels of Ms Porter for the past several years – I have a few of them on hand actually, only regretfully they are not quite accessible! (hard to explain – most of my personal library is not yet unpacked) I’ve been visiting her website off/on since 2013 whilst I also follow her writerly career on Twitter – though somewhere between life and tides, I’ve overlooked quite an important milestone of her life: she’s developed a publishing company for Romance & Women’s Fiction authors! I look forward to browsing their catalogue, sorting out which authors are published into print and seeing if I can start requesting more of their titles via my local library! Either directly (via purchase requests) or through ILL’ing them! (inter-library loaning)

Formats Available: Paperback* and Ebook

Uniquely enough, I couldn’t find links routing to the print copy I have myself via LibraryThing; even after I keyed in the ISBN on the copyright page. I also noticed the print edition is not listed on retail outlets or GoodReads. I am unsure when the print copy will start to show online, however, I know this title did release into paperback and I am thankful it had in order for me to have a chance to read it. Except, I did consider I might have an ARC – hopefully the print release will be easier to track in forthcoming months or after the New Year begins.

This marks the first story in the series which will feature the following characters:
Conor, Sean, Brendan, and Aidan Flaherty. The series begins with Conor’s story!

Converse via: #Contemporary #ChristmasRomance

& #FourIrishBrothersWinery

About Nan Reinhardt

Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today-bestselling author of romantic fiction for women in their prime. Yeah, women still fall in love and have sex, even after 45! Imagine! She is a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and a grandmother. Nan has been a copyeditor and proofreader for over 25 years, and currently works on romantic fiction titles for a variety of clients, including Avon Books, St. Martin’s Press, Kensington Books, Tule Publishing, and Entangled Publishing, as well as for many indie authors.

Although she loves her life as an editor, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten, a love story between the most sophisticated person she knew at the time, her older sister (who was in high school and had a driver’s license!), and a member of Herman’s Hermits. If you remember who they are, you are Nan’s audience! Her latest novel, A Small Town Christmas, which is the first book in the Four Irish Brothers Winery series from Tule Publishing, releases on October 29, 2018.

Visit Nan’s website at www.nanreinhardt.com, where you’ll find links to all her books as well as blogs about writing, being a Baby Boomer, and aging gracefully…mostly. Nan also blogs every sixth Wednesday at Word Wranglers, sharing the spotlight with five other romance authors and is a frequent contributor the RWA Contemporary Romance blog, and she contributes to the Romance University blog where she writes as Editor Nan.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#blogmas 2018

Posted Friday, 2 November, 2018 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction, Small Towne Fiction

Book Spotlight w/ Notes | “Snowflakes Over Holly Cove” by Lucy Coleman (an early #blogmas post!)

Posted Wednesday, 12 September, 2018 by jorielov Aria Fiction, Head of Zeus, Lucy Coleman, Snowflakes Over Holly Cove 3 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Even though it is ONLY *September!* – this is one year where #ChristmasRoms are already starting to tug at my heart! Similar to last year, where I was starting to find out about a lot of lovely #newbooks arriving for the hols but without a way to purchase them (this year, I’m submitting quite a lot of lovelies to my local library – whose been rather gracious with me accepting more than they’ve turnt down!) – which is why I was featuring a series of Spotlights and/or Book Announcements whilst interconnecting Q&As into those threads from last Autumn & Early Winter!!

This year, I’m continuing the tradition – with one small upgrade – due to my participation in #blogging4books – a lovely new group for bookblogger support – I learnt about #blogmas! I believe it generally takes place during *December!* – where you spend 31 days sharing Christmassy posts spilt between the festive season in [general] and the Christmas stories your either reading [that year] or have enjoyed discovering. Sometimes it’s even topical based or you can feature interviews, etc – the rules (haven’t yet been found) appear to be a bit up in the air in regards to each individual blogger! Happily, as this is my first spotlight for a Christmas story – I am starting a wee bit early! Even though, technically my *first!* Christmas book review will be going LIVE in *November!* this year!!

I truly never tire of Christmas stories – Contemporary, Historical, a cross-genre selection – whether in fiction and/or tv/film, there is something uniquely pulling about the context of a Christmas story for me! I am appreciating my journey into discovering #newtomeauthors how are writing these kinds of selections and I hope, as the years move forward, I will not just be spotlighting the titles I wish to be #amreading *but!* I will start to have opportunities to either a) start collecting the paperbacks b) continue to make purchase requests at my local library c) borrow these lovelies through ILL’ing (inter-library loan) or d) happily await the audiobook releases (if they go into that format!).

Curiously, which routes of exploration do you take to curl into a #ChristmasRomance and/or a #HolidayRom!? Which authors are your #mustread favourites and which styles of Christmas/hols stories are your absolute favourites to continuously seek out?! Full novels? Novellas? Shorts? Anthologies? Which genres? New or Classic or a Mixture? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Let’s peer into this latest release by an author I am most eager to start reading – I have an extract to share with you which is why you might want to brew yourself a cuppa of your favourite tea or java selection before returning in for the ‘read’!! Happy (early) Christmas!

Snowflakes Over Holly Cove
Subtitle: This Christmas, there's happiness sparkling on the sea air...
by Linn B. Halton, Ms Linn B. Halton

As the snowflakes start to fall, Holly Cove welcomes a new tenant to the beautiful old cottage on the beach...

For lifestyle magazine journalist Tia Armstrong, relationships, as well as Christmas, have lost all their magic. Yet Tia is up against a Christmas deadline for her latest article 'Love is, actually, all around...'

So, Tia heads to Holly Cove where the restorative sea air and rugged stranger, Nic, slowly but surely start mending her broken heart.

Tia didn't expect a white Christmas, and she certainly never dared dream that all her Christmas wishes might just come true...

Set in Caswell Bay on the stunningly rugged Gower Coast, the cottage nestles amid the limestone cliffs and the woodlands; the emotions run as turbulently as the wind-swept sea.

As cosy as a marshmallow-topped cup of cocoa, fall in love with a heart-warming festive story from the bestselling author of The French Adventure.

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1788541558

Also by this author: Christmas at Bay Tree Cottage, Coming Home to Penvennan Cove

on 18th September, 2018

Published by: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)

an imprint of Head of Zeus

Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #HolidayRomance + #ChristmasRomance & #Contemporary #Romance

About Lucy Coleman

From interior designer to author, Linn B. Halton - who also writes under the pen name of Lucy Coleman - says ‘it’s been a fantastic journey!’

Linn is the bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and is excited to be writing for both Aria Fiction (Head of Zeus) and Harper Impulse (Harper Collins); she’s represented by Sara Keane of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency.

When she’s not writing, or spending time with the family, she’s either upcycling furniture or working in the garden.

Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award; her novels have been short-listed in the UK's Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards.

Living in Coed Duon in the Welsh Valleys with her ‘rock’, Lawrence, and gorgeous Bengal cat Ziggy, she freely admits she’s an eternal romantic.

Linn is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and writes feel-good, uplifting novels about life, love and relationships.

All the author links below equal the links I've previously shared for Ms Halton with the exception of her Twitter feeds, Amazon page, GoodReads page & LibraryThing page which are exclusively for her pen name.

Posted Wednesday, 12 September, 2018 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Brook Cottage Book Tours