Genre: Contemporary Romance

A #PubDay #RomanceTuesdays feat. #HarlequinHeartwarming | “The Soldier’s Unexpected Family” (Book Three of the Hollydale series) by Tanya Agler

Posted Tuesday, 9 March, 2021 by jorielov Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, Hollydale series, Tanya Agler, The Soldier's Unexpected Family 2 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. This is how I came to love discovering the Harlequin Heartwarming authors & series as much as it has been an honour to regularly request INSPY stories and authors. Whenever I host for Prism, I know I am in for an uplifting read and a journey into the stories which give me a lot of joy to find in my readerly queue of #nextreads. It is an honour to be a part of their team of book bloggers.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Soldier’s Unexpected Family” direct from the author Tanya Agler in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

*waves!* Hallo, Hallo dear hearts,

I wanted to preface my review this #RomanceTuesdays with a quick s/o and note to my readers & regular visitors alike – THANK YOU for visiting with me during February – as it became quite the epic month of CHANGE & TRANSITIONS for my family and I. I had meant to compose a Sunday Post about it all – however, to be honest, I’ve been having trouble with bouts of fatigue and exhaustion; this is the first week we’re I’m rested and able to get back to my blog – really *back!* on the blog, reading, composing my thoughts and rejoining the book blogging community I’ve loved being a part of for the past eight years come the 31st of March!! (in just a few short weeks – its my blogoversary!)

You’ll start to see more regularity again – on Jorie Loves A Story and on my social feeds – what better way to ‘come back’ than to come back and celebrate a favourite imprint by a publisher whose been giving me wicked good Romance reads! (big smiles) I’m working on the draft for that Sunday Post I kept mentioning in February – which should go live *this!* Sunday whilst I have announcements for #WyrdAndWonder (follow us via @WyrdAndWonder on Twitter), the RAL for ‘Unconquerable Sun’ I’m hosting throughout April via the community of @SciFiMonth (#SciFiMonth) and lots of bits and bobbles of life ‘behind the blog’ as well.

Bless you for your patience in me, for your comments & lovely notes you’ve been leaving me on my posts and for giving me a chance to sort out some of the changes in my life but still visiting with me as I was able to surface and share some new posts, blog tours & a wicked #TopTenTuesday all Janeites would be proud to watch (ie. it was a vlog interview!)

Now without further adieu,… let’s get back to the blog tour today!

If you caught sight of my #BestBooksOf2020 you know “A Ranger for the Twins” was a winner of my Cuppa Book Love Awards – which you can read about HERE!

Why I loved my introduction into Hollydale:

Happily read through my Harlequin Heartwarming archives!

It was hard not to burst into a proper fit of giggles when you first meet Lucie – if it weren’t for the seriousness of her situation and the hard-won luck she was providing for herself and her kids, it would have been a cracker of an opening! Plus, honestly – it just proved that whenever you think you are juggling all the chaos in your life, sometimes life has a way of giving you a bit more than you bargained after and proving that sometimes you just can’t lock it all down ahead of time! I loved how Agler gave us this comfortable opening to the novel – as it was a very relaxed start to the story whilst at the same time, it was full of cheeky humour lit round the edges!

I loved the tender moments Agler created between the twins, Mattie and Ethan with their Mum, Lucie as she gave you this wonderful warm home and hearth setting wherein a young family was patchworking their way into a better tomorrow. The young twins respected each other and their Mum, whilst they also had quite a large collection of animals to care after which gave you a burst of smiles because of how eclectic they were in species! It was the kind of home where you’d feel comfortable on your first visit and might not want to leave too quickly because of how engaging the family was to everyone who graced their home. It was a wonderful burst of life and love and I loved discovering this side of Agler’s writing style.

Ooh my dear stars! Caleb’s Mum stole the show for me! And, I loved her for it!! She had the most to lose and the most to gain but in the artful way Agler chose to give us a winning scene wherein Tina herself became the champion of her own story was the best moment of A Ranger for the Twins! It bespoke to the underlying theme of the story – about family, redemption and second chances – about rebuilding a life after the ashes have erased the past and of having the faithfulness of believing in the beauty of tomorrow! Ooh my goodness, what a wonderful toasting of mercy and the beautiful ways in which you can find yourself redeemed!

I definitely have found a new series to keep my eyes on for Heartwarming! I know this series isn’t officially named or even declared but for me, Hollydale is my new favourite small towne I can’t wait to revisit!! Here’s to more installments and more lives being healed and restored through Agler’s vision for her growing community where hearts and lives intersect with a lot of love and hope! Agler has a style for Contemporary Romance which is smooth as key lime pie and as charmingly lovely to read as a cool Autumn afternoon.

-quoted from my review for A Ranger for the Twins

If you love reading Harlequin Heartwarming & the reviews I am sharing
kindly let me know if we’re reading the same authors and/or if you think I need to add someone to my TBR to be read as soon as I can get my hands on their books!!

The Soldier's Unexpected Family
by Tanya Agler
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

He had a plan…
She changed it all!

Major Aidan Murphy arrives in the charming small town of Hollydale to take full guardianship of his six-year-old nephew. Only there’s a slight problem—his vivacious, fiery co-guardian. School teacher Natalie Harrison has no intention of letting Aidan take her best friend’s heartbroken little boy away. Now Aidan must convince Natalie that blood is stronger than love…even if his heart tells him otherwise.

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335179807

Also by this author: A Ranger for the Twins, The Single Dad's Holiday Match

Also in this series: A Ranger for the Twins

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 9th March, 2021

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Pages: 384

The Hollydale series:

The Sheriff’s Second Chance (book one) – Mike and Georgie’s story

A Ranger for the Twins (book two) – Caleb and Lucie’s story (see also Review)

The Soldier’s Unexpected Family (book three) Aidan and Natalie’s story

*Please note: I noticed there is a connection with all of these stories being set inside the small towne of Hollydale and have chosen to collect them into a ‘series’ as they are a series by setting – however, I am not sure if they have been officially named as either a collection and/or a series or continuity with Harlequin Heartwarming as there isn’t a series name on the books nor on their informational pages online. I collected them together for my own frame of reference and for other readers and visitors to my blog Jorie Loves A Story who likes to read series in order and/or meet stories in order of how they were first disclosed.

Finally sorted: This was a trilogy and the series is officially called: Heroines of Hollydale!!

Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin Books

Formats Available: Paperback* and Ebook

*Harlequin has the luxury of offering Regular, Large & Larger Print editions which I personally can attest are lovely to be reading! Especially after a migraine or when my eyes are fatigued.

Converse via: #TanyaAgler and #HarlequinHeartwarming

About Tanya Agler

An award-winning author,Tanya Agler moved often during her childhood and settled in Georgia where she writes sweet contemporary romance novels, which feature small towns, family and pets, and themes of second chances and hope.

Her debut, The Sheriff’s Second Chance, is a January of 2020 Harlequin Heartwarming release. The sequel, A Ranger for the Twins, will be released in Oct. 2020. A graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and law, she lives with her wonderful husband, their four children, and a lovable Basset, who really rules the roost. Represented by Dawn Dowdle and the Blue Ridge Literary Agency, she’s currently at work on the sequels to her debut. When she’s not writing, Tanya loves classic movies, walking, and a good cup of tea.

Posted Tuesday, 9 March, 2021 by jorielov in #RomanceTuesdays, 21st Century, Adoption, Blog Tour Host, Bookmark slipped inside a Review Book, Contemporary Romance, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Equality In Literature, Family Drama, Family Life, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Life Shift, Mental Health, Military Fiction, Modern Day, Mother-Son Relationships, Motherhood | Parenthood, North Carolina, Orphans & Guardians, Post-911 (11th September 2001), Prism Book Tours, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Single Fathers, Single Mothers, Small Towne Fiction, Small Towne USA, Social Services

An Author Q&A with an Extract | “Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace” by Kate Forster

Posted Tuesday, 9 February, 2021 by jorielov Aria Fiction, Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace, Head of Zeus, Kate Forster 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I hadn’t thought 2021 would have been a harder beginning than 2020, until of course I actually lived through the first bits of the year and noticed how much harder it has felt to see 2021 gain traction and footing in my life. For whichever reason, between the events of January and the turning tides of February, I’ve been reading less, blogging sporadically and tweeting every blue moon – compared to my regular habits across my blog and social feeds. In regards to reading – part of the slowdown has been due to multiple injuries which make it hard to hold a book or type to get the words onto my blog or social feeds as well.

This past weekend and Monday in particular were difficult as well – wherein if you were looking forward to seeing my review for the third novel in Edale Lane’s trilogy – kindly stay patient with me, as I’m still composing my thoughts upon it. I had to pull it yesterday due to a personal emergency and we took a family day to recover from it. I was hoping after January, February would be a bit kinder on us as a family but it has proved to be a hard-won kind of month where there is a bit more adversity but a lot of hope and promise for changing tides as well. Sometimes life is like that – you have to take the bitter with the sweet and find your way forward after the storms dissipate.

Whilst I am finding my way back inside books and sorting out my blog’s schedule – this lovely Q&A focuses on the characters and heart of “Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace”. A bit of a kind reprieve for me to highlight a story which feels like it would be a good lift of spirit – which is why I am thankful to spotlight it on the blog tour as a Digital First release and look forward to seeing if an audiobook edition makes it way to Scribd as has “Starting Over at Acorn Cottage” has ahead of it. This marks my second novel I’ve been able to spotlight for this author and I hope this year is the year I can start to listen to her stories.

Enjoy this extract from ‘Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace’:

Tressa was grateful for her job because it allowed her to paint. She was an artist, a properly trained one at that, her mother would tell you if you asked, having gone to art school in Plymouth. Tressa sold her paintings and prints of the Cornish sea from a website under the pseudonym The Cornish Mermaid; the sales topped up her income to pay for living expenses and canvas and everything else was cream.

Her mother Wendy said that Tressa was the oldest twenty-six-year-old in the UK. She spent her money on not much else besides her art. All her friends were still drinking and dancing all night but Tressa was a loner, not so much by choice as by circumstance. She was shy and she had struggled to stay in contact with friends from school or university, all of whom seemed to be getting engaged or married now. A few of them even had babies. She sent little paintings off to her friends, celebrating their news, and drew cards for the babies and posted them to faraway places but no one wanted to come to Port Lowdy and stay at Mermaid Terrace. If Tressa ever pulled an all-nighter it was in front of her easel waiting for the moon to slide behind the clouds when it was the sun’s turn to take over.

‘How will you ever meet someone?’ her mother asked. ‘You’ll never find anyone there. Come on home and find love. We will buy you a place, and you can rent out your house there and come back to it later on.’ Wendy kept trying to coax her daughter to return to St Ives but Tressa didn’t believe in finding love. Love wasn’t lost, so why should she go looking for it? It would come if it was ready and if love never found her, she had her cat and her art and that was enough, she told herself. There was no one in Port Lowdy worth swinging hands with. She knew nearly everyone in the village and there were no eligible men under the age of sixty. Older men had never been her thing.

There was another artist she’d had a thing with for a while, who she used to see in St Ives, but it wasn’t serious and they both knew it. She didn’t want to live there and he didn’t want to come to Port Lowdy. It was unspoken that their connection was merely physical and a mutual appreciation of art and nothing more. He was nice enough but not enough to want more from him.

The sound of her boss, George, talking on the phone welcomed Tressa to another day at work, as she put her bike into the storage room and then went into the kitchen to make them both a cup of tea. Her job at The Port Lowdy Occurrence had been a happy accident after his wife Caro left work to be more involved in with their grandchildren. It wasn’t full time but it gave her enough time to paint and stare out the attic window from her terrace house at the ever-changing colour of the sea.

‘Can I see you, Tressie?’

‘Sure,’ said Tressa. ‘Want your tea?’

‘Yes and bring the digestive biscuits,’ George said sombrely.

A morning digestive meant George was trying to solve a serious problem.

Tressa took the mugs to his desk and sat down facing him, the biscuits tucked under her arm, and she placed them between them.

I love how this story isn’t taking a traditional trajectory of her life – wherein she is living against what society expects and even what her Mum wants for her as well. She’s listening to her heart and she has an independent mind about love and life and the course of tides we all travel through during different seasons. I immediately felt connected to Tressa and look forward to learning more about her when/if this becomes either an audiobook or print release!

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this delightful convo!

Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace
Subtitle: Love comes when you least expect it...
by Kate Forster

Love comes when you least expect it...

Tressa Buckland likes her quiet life in Port Lowdy, with its cobbled streets and colourful terraced houses overlooking the sea. Her job at the local paper allows her to pursue her art in her free time, with no one but her tabby cat Ginger Pickles to mind her in Mermaid Terrace. But then the owner of the paper is called away on an emergency, and it's up to Tressa to run the paper for six months. Her first task: find a new part-time journalist.

Dan Byrne is the angriest man in Ireland – or so the readers of his very successful column, 'Dan takes on the world', think. But after a story goes south and he loses his job in Dublin, Dan has no choice but to start afresh. When an opportunity comes up in sleepy Cornwall, Dan and his Golden Retriever Ritchie set off for a new adventure.

For Tressa, Dan's arrival to Port Lowdy changes everything. Tressa tries not to look too deeply at her own life, but Dan sees a story to uncover in absolutely everyone – even her. The two of them couldn't be more different... yet, if they can find a way to work together, they may just breathe new life and joy into this sleepy seaside village.

Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace is a heartwarming new village romance about the power of love and kindness, from the bestselling author of Starting Over at Acorn Cottage.

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

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B087JXNXQK

Also by this author: Starting Over At Acorn Cottage

Published by Aria Fiction

on 4th February, 2021

The stories I’ve hosted by this author:

[ quite happily one of these is now available on Scribd! ]

Starting Over at Acorn Cottage (on audiobook!) *see also this Post

Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace ← I hope is forthcoming to Scribd!

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

This is a Digital First Release!

Converse via: #FindingLoveAtMermaidTerrace, #WomensFiction and #HeadOfZeus

Posted Tuesday, 9 February, 2021 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Contemporary Romance, Head of Zeus, Reader Submitted Q&A, Romance Fiction, Women's Fiction

A bit more #blogmas this #RomanceTuesdays feat. #HarlequinHeartwarming | “The Christmas Promise” by Janice Carter

Posted Tuesday, 19 January, 2021 by jorielov Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, Janice Carter, Lighthouse Cove, The Christmas Promise 0 Comments

I received a complimentary copy of “The Christmas Promise” direct from the author Beth Carpenter in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

The joy of reading a #newtomeauthor of #HarlequinHeartwarming:

Happily read through my Harlequin Heartwarming archives!

Interestingly enough, as I’ve been revealling on my posts and reviews this January, my readerly life has taken quite a few hits in recent weeks due to current events and the state of the country. It is hard not to find your readings sidelined whilst you’re watching the news and/or trying to resolve what the news is telling you. However, I made a bit of headway by focusing on the opening pages of a Historical Romance yesterday and of course, the Fantasy novel Fly Free thankfully managed to greet me before anything was able to segue me out of reading whilst it is the Harlequin Heartwarming novels which keep pulling me back into reading due to their gentle stories and their uplifting reveals.

Towards that end, this coming Saturday, I will be able to release my thoughts on behalf of the second #BlackwellSisters novel Montana Wishes as I withheld it the week of the 6th and have been rounding out my thoughts on the story ever since. It is good to finally be able to share those revelations and to carry-on with the series, as the third novel Montana Dreams is written by our 30th January @SatBookChat guest author Anna J. Stewart!

Today, I am focusing on a new Heartwarming novelist, Janice Carter, of whom I originally thought was a standalone novelist with Heartwarming but this particular novel turnt out to be part of a series! I love reading stories within Heartwarming because they happen to be the kind of respite I need in today’s chaotic world as much a lovely exit from adversely unique circumstances which arise in all of our lives – their the kind of story you can just soak into without realising the break their giving you is a balm to your soul. Their also the stories I can read betwixt and between my migraines (which thankfully I’m still free of right now in the Winter) due to the larger print of their novels by Heartwarming.

Find out what my thoughts were about The Christmas Promise
and see if this Heartwarming novelist is meant to be on your TBR, too!

The Christmas Promise
by Janice Carter
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

The Christmas season…
Is perfect for new beginnings

After a tragedy seventeen years ago, author Ella Jacobs never wanted to come back to Lighthouse Cove. Not to the whispered rumors, the judgment or even to Ben Winters, the boy she loved. Now she’s returned in time for Christmas—and some much-needed closure. But old flames burn bright. Can Ella find her way back to Ben…or will the secrets of their past extinguish their love for good?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Contemporary Romance, Romance Fiction

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335179715

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 12th January, 2021

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Pages: 384

The Lighthouse Cove series:

His Saving Grace (book one)

The Christmas Promise* (book two)

*initially I thought this was a one-off novel unattached to a series however in the author’s note of the story, she discloses the connection to “His Saving Grace” as well as mentions the series name. Interestingly this is the first novel of a series by Heartwarming where the series name itself is not included on the back cover of the novel – nor is it listed as a series online from the sites I check. I am thankful the author disclosed the connections esp for those of us who read serial fiction!

Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin Books

Formats Available: Paperback* and Ebook

*Harlequin has the luxury of offering Regular, Large & Larger Print editions which I personally can attest are lovely to be reading! Especially after a migraine or when my eyes are fatigued.

Converse via: #JaniceCarter and #HarlequinHeartwarming

About Janice Carter

Writing has been a passion for Janice Carter since elementary school but her second career after teaching began with the publication of a Harlequin Intrigue, many years ago. Since then, she's been very lucky to be able to do what she enjoys most - writing about the connections between people, their families and the places where they live. And of course, love is always at the heart of those connections.

Posted Tuesday, 19 January, 2021 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction

Stories in the Spotlight | [the stories on Jorie’s readerly radar] feat. notes and an extract of “Simply You” by Maggie Wild

Posted Saturday, 16 January, 2021 by jorielov Hope Valley Romances, Maggie Wild, Simpy You, Steel Rose Press 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Welcome to a New Year of discovering stories with me on Jorie Loves A Story! The past few weeks, I admit, I’ve been struggling to get back into the rhythm of reading. After a hard-won Christmas and New Year’s this year as Mum worked over 130+ hours within a fortnight which re-arranged our holidays quite a heap and after a turbulent beginning to our New Year 2021 (ie. collectively, per current events) – I’ve been tucked offline, focusing on my health & wellness this January rather than soaking inside books which is how I thought I’d spend the first weeks of the New Year.

Happily I’m seeing improvement with my health (ie. #migrainefree), increased stamina through actively pursuing hiking in nature and redirecting myself to eat less but eat more purposefully by augmenting healthy protein shakes and a heap of greens into my regular diet. I’ve missed focusing on my health with a dedicated passion which is why Mum and I decided if we could make one change this New Year, it was going to be a decided co-effort to get back to basics and see true change in how we approached the year on a personal level.

Thus, whilst I work on getting my health squared away, I am also in the process of sorting out my shelves – wherein I’m getting some organisational totes to decrease what is visible on my shelves in order to read better this New Year, 2021 as well. The books left on the shelf will reflect my current reads and once those are consumed, the ones in the totes will be up on the shelf until I reach my goals of erasing my backlogue! This is in conjunction with developing a TBR dice game I’ll be revealling at the end of January – stay tuned for those details, especially if you find reading stories off your TBR is always a wrenching hard choice and you’d like to spice things up by removing making the ‘choices’ of what to read from your TBR List.

All the while, I have a keen eye on the horizon for new stories and authors who are itching a thirst of interest to be read. This particular Contemporary Romantic Comedy stood out to me and as lovely as it sounds, I have to await a format I can enjoy reading – as this is strictly a Digital First release at this junction of time. If it goes to print or audio, I hope to update you in future when I’ve had a chance to get a copy to read.

I am reading more Contemporary Romances but I am still a bit under-read in RomComs as they have the tendency of being a harder sell for me as a reader. The reason why this is one might suit me is the premise of it – especially for the series as a whole – the setting, the community concept and the promise of hope in finding relationships which are strongly built between the characters. Plus, who doesn’t like a romance spilt between city and country life? Wherein you have to truly choose the kind of life your heart beckons to be lived vs the life you expected to have? I love those kinds of romantic dramas and the fact this is spun with a comedic touch I felt sounded like a wicked brilliant read!

Be sure to read the extract and my thoughts about the story to see if this perhaps might wink an interest into your own readerly wanderings this year! Especially if you’re able to read ebooks – you won’t have to wait for future formats and can dive straight into it! Remember – brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy your stay!

Simpy You
Subtitle: A Heart Valley Romance | All you need is love... and a bit of luck
by Maggie Wild
Source: Chapter Sampler

She needs someone she can count on.
He’s gun-shy after being hurt.
Can a brush with fate in a rained-out English village turn into enduring love?

Sarah Tildon thinks she’s found the perfect man. But after her overbearing future mother-in-law insists her quiet country wedding become a high-society shindig, she sets out on a two-week ride to rethink her plans. Stranded when her bicycle is stolen in a picturesque hamlet, she’s touched by the kindness of a handsome young farmer who comes to her rescue.

The big city failed Michael Marsden’s ample ambitions. After his fiancée cheats on him, he turns his back on the hustle and bustle and takes on a farm to prove he can lead a self-sufficient life. And taken by surprise when a charming outsider helps sing his hens into laying, he realizes his newfound Eden is missing its Eve.

Unexpectedly falling for the sweet homesteader, Sarah is torn between the security of a gilded cage and the precarious freedom of raising chickens. And when her fiancé arrives to bring her back to London, Michael fears she’ll leave him with yet another shattered heart.

Will this unlikely couple throw caution to the wind and embrace a destined second chance?

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

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B08NY3421P

Published by Steel Rose Press

on 12th January, 2021

Format: Chapter Sampler | Online

About the Hope Valley Romance series:

Simply You is the first book in the heartwarming Hope Valley Romance series. If you like fun heroines, pastoral backdrops, and endearing courtships, then you’ll adore Maggie Wild’s sweet tale.

Read Simply You to start fresh today!

The second novel is Back Home to You ← forthcoming 31 May, 2021!

Converse on Twitter via: #SimplyYou and/or #MaggieWild
as well as #HopeVallyRomance and #ContemporaryRomance

About Maggie Wild

Simply You novel promo badge for Maggie Wild's Hope Valley Romance series provided by Xpresso Book Tours and is used with permission.

Maggie Wild lives in California Wine Country with her own Mr. Right and a small collection of furry friends. A native of Yorkshire, England, she returns “home” every day through her fictional worlds. When not writing her fun, contemporary romance stories, she loves to watch the birds in her garden and hike through the local redwoods.

Posted Saturday, 16 January, 2021 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Blitz, Book Spotlight, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, Romance Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Xpresso Book Tours

#Blogmas | feat. #HarlequinHeartwarming | “Christmas on the Ranch” (Hearts of Big Sky, Book Two) by Julianna Morris

Posted Wednesday, 23 December, 2020 by jorielov Christmas on the Ranch, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, Hearts of Big Sky series, Julianna Morris, Twins for the Rodeo Star 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As you know, I love a wicked good Harlequin Heartwarming novel – as this has seriously become one of my top favourite imprints by a publisher and the second one I love from Harlequin – Love Inspired Suspense being the second one! When it comes to Harlequin Heartwarming, I have to credit Tressa who runs Prism Book Tours who inspired me to ‘take a chance’ on Heartwarming and it became a wicked sweet match for me as a reader! Most of the Heartwarming authors I am discovering come from hosting blog tours and/or review tours with Prism during the course of the year and it has been this way since 2017. Though uniquely I had forgotten I read and reviewed my first Heartwarming novel in 2014 – which was within the first year of being a book blogger! I’ve always felt it was Tressa who nudged me into reading Heartwarming – and in many regards, that’s still true – because with her nudge to read more Heartwarming, I am unsure if I would have remembered the imprint!

I clearly have a longer history with Heartwarming than I tend to realise – more uniquely, the first novel I read was by Karen Rock – of whom has written my one of my favourite Western Cowboy Romance series (the Rocky Mountain Cowboys) and yet, my first experience with Heartwarming was with a different novel altogether as there were no cowboys in sight!

The main reason I think I overlook the first Heartwarming novel I read is because at the time I read it, I was still quite new to understanding the imprints at Harlequin and still sorting out which of Harlequin’s novels might interest me to start reading. I know Love Inspired was in my life prior to Heartwarming and that might be another reason I overlooked the imprint as well – thereby, I still stand by my previous declarations that without Tressa I might have missed out on reading all these dearly lovely stories and series! Plus, I would have missed hosting the #BlackwellSisters focused chat with all 5x of the lovely authors in November, 2020 as well!

I am truly thankful I crossed paths with Ms Morris on Twitter during one of the #SweetChristmasChat’s hosted by Vivian Conroy – as Ms Conroy was putting authors & readers together to chat Christmas and to help celebrate the season together this year. I missed a few of the chats, and even came a bit late to one of the ones I enjoyed the most. However, Ms Conroy loves hosting chats as much as I do – she has a unique way of using themes for her chats whereas I strictly host @SatBookChat quite consistently. The main chat she hosts during the year is #HistFicChat which unites the Historical Fiction world of authors & stories with those of us who love devouring the genre!

When it comes to Christmas Romances and serial fiction – I am an avid reader of both – as I like series which have a Christmas story within their sequencing of stories as much as I love reading Christmas stories in general. Knowing how much my heart swoons in glee whenever I find a Western Rom or a Cowboy centred story – this latest release by Morris held my eye at “Hallo!”

Especially perhaps even moreso because the lead character wants to be a wildlife photographer – which is something I can personally relate to as I’m a self-taught nature and wildlife photographer IRL – being out in natural habitats and finding a way to capture what I am finding is truly a gift of joy. Being so close to the natural world and respecting their habitats and their right of way to live and be free is also a blessing because I never want to intrude on their lives but rather capture a moment of their life from a reasonable distance wherein we’re both respectfully safe from each other. There is a stillness within you as a photographer as you go to take a photo of a wild animal – you almost get caught inside the moment of living that connection to the animal before you realise you need to focus on the shot at hand. I love it personally – the creativeness of it and of the direct connections you feel within the natural world itself as you photograph what you observe.

I must admit, the fact this is a second chance romance sealed the fate I need to seek out these stories in the New Year because more than other types of Romances, I have a personal penchant for ‘second chances, new beginnings and the start of something new’ kind of stories!! I believe its because of all the hope which lives in the pages of the budding new romance and the joy in knowing people have found the ones they’re meant to be with after a long journey towards finding them whilst caught up in the art of living their lives.

I wanted to offer to showcase this series during my #blogmas showcases this year as I had such a wicked fun time during the chat when I had the chance to interact with Ms Morris. I wanted her series to receive a bit of a boost of blogger love this Christmas as much as celebrating the fact I found a new voice within Heartwarming to read in the New Year. I hope you’ve been enjoying my focused features this #blogmas – for both Romances and Fantasy – as it truly has been a lot of fun assembling the posts and trying to insert a bit of IRL Christmassy tidbits to go along with them!

Curiously – If you’re a reader of Harlequin Heartwarming OR any of the lovely imprints from Harlequin Books – what do you love most about the stories of Romance Harlequin is publishing? What drew you into one of their imprints and what has kept you hooked into reading more!?

Can the warmth of Christmas melt his frozen heart?

Alaina Wright is finally following her dream of becoming a wildlife photographer. And Gideon Carmichael’s Montana ranch on the edge of Yellowstone is the perfect home base. After losing the love of her life two years earlier, Alaina isn’t looking for romance. But there’s something about the gruff, wounded rancher that makes her wonder…could they both get a second chance at happily-ever-after this Christmas?

Add to LibraryThing | ISBN: 978-1-335-89000-9

Hearts of Big Sky series:

Twins for the Rodeo Star (book one)

From rodeo star to daddy…twice over!

Every cowboy makes mistakes, and champion bull rider Josh McKeon is no exception. But gorgeous Montana rancher Kelly Beaumont isn’t quite ready to forgive Josh for breaking her heart. Especially when she’s been hiding a secret—he’s the father of her twin boys! Now this rodeo star has one last chance to convince Kelly that they belong together…as a family. Only this time, he’s not letting go…

Christmas on the Ranch (book two)

The Man from Montana(book three)
← forthcoming release, JUNE 2021!

Converse via: #HarlequinHeartwarming + #ContemporaryRomance
as well #WesternRomance and/or #CowboyRomance

Posted Wednesday, 23 December, 2020 by jorielov in #blogmas, Book Spotlight, Romance Fiction