Genre: Police Procedural

The Sunday Post | No.6 | #SummerReads, new #INSPY favourites and how I reclaimed my reading life from Spring’s bout of migraines!

Posted Sunday, 22 July, 2018 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

The Sunday Post badge created by Jorie in Canva using Unsplash.com photography (Creative Commons Zero).

My participation in this meme was directly inspired by my new bookish friends: Avalinah + Savanah via this post!

[Official Blurb] The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies. Link up once a week or once a month, you decide. Book haul can include library books, yard sale finds, arcs and bought books..share them!

  • Enter your link on the post- Sundays beginning at 12:01 am (CST) (link will be open all week)
  • Link back to this post or this blog
  • Visit others who have linked up

A note about the format I am using to journal #TheSundayPost: I am finding I like being able to give my readers who cannot visit my blog each time a new post, review or guest feature goes live a digest journal of what is happening on #JLASblog each week! If you are familiar with the style in which I journal my readerly adventures via #WWWednesdays (see also Archive) you’ll know why I like this journalled style for #TheSundayPost!

It’s a way of talking about what is bookishly on my mind whilst sharing where my travels in Fiction & Non-Fiction took me through the last seven days! Quite stellar – so very thankful I was encouraged to participate as I love being able to think about which stories settled into my heart and which of the stories I am most eager to see arrive by postal mail and/or via audiobook! It’s a bit of a lovely way to journal your bookish life and have a weekly reminder of the experiences of you’ve gathered and love to remember! In regards to getting back into the groove with #WWWeds – I’m either going to make the meme bi-monthly or monthly which I’ll decide within the next fortnight.

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Hallo, dear hearts, welcome to an INSPY filled July,..

Finding my new pace & rhythm with my reading life has been the most difficult part of my Summer, as I had planned to *devour!* loads of #FantasyReads in Mayheaps of #AudioReads in June – whilst July was meant to be stuffed to the gills with #INSPY stories spilt between Fiction & Non-Fiction! I was also planning to release reviews for the colouring books which I’ve happily enjoyed creating art inside whilst I’ve listened to audiobooks! Thankfully, as there is still a bit of time left to the month, I can run a series of reviews befitting my original goals for July (including those colouring books!).

The main reason I was thrown off-kilter this year was due to the health reasons I previously disclosed after #WyrdAndWonder, yet what I hadn’t realised then, as I do know is how many after effects I truly had to trudge through in order to resume where I left off reading! This July, when I stumbled across the Christian & Clean Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Singing Librarian Books – I had no idea how this would deeply impact my life! I blog about my passionate appreciation for INSPY Lit quite often even though it is not always as regularly as I would prefer – I’ve been striving for a better balance of stories being read/heard between both mainstream and INSPY markets – a goal I’ve had tucked onto the backburner for the 5 years I’ve been blogging on Jorie Loves A Story!

July was giving me this opportunity to find a renewal of purpose to focus on #INSPYreads as due to how the challenge was self-directed and self-motivating towards your own personal goals – this is what I did to get into the mindset of approaching it:

→ I developed a book list I wanted to use as a primer and guide towards what I could read

→ I kept very loose goals per day and week – meaning, if I was finding myself tucking into a story where I could only read a few chapters at a time, I considered this a ‘win!’

→ The beauty of the challenge was not needing to ‘blog’ per se to participate – this opened the door for me to head into the twitterverse to micro-blog my updates, interact with the authors I was reading and give myself a much needed hiatus from weekly blogging! (it also helped I was under-booked!)

→ A bit of a competition between your Mum goes a long way towards reclaiming your reading life as well! I have made it quite well know I’ve been following in Mum’s footsteps towards reading the Love INSPIRED Suspense series – as she has beloved favourites: Elizabeth Goddard, Laura Scott, Lenora Worth, etc of whom she’d like me to read and become introduced to in order to start having fireside chats about the characters, the plots and the wicked intensity of ‘feeling on edge’ throughout the course of the novels! (we’ve started in on that goal, too!)

→ Call me crazy but I used the widget for the bookaways as a personal ‘self-check’ towards staying on my goals, keeping the ‘pleasure’ in my reading hours without the added worry of (should I blog, shouldn’t I blog) chatter whilst finding with each new day I was ‘recording’ my progresses – either by audiobooks listened to (as of now, I heard two) or books read (as of now, three) and a sampling of what I was microblogging on Twitter – you could say it proved fruitful for a girl whose angst was not just limited to her personal health but as a step towards reconciling how to be a ‘reader’ when she didn’t feel like being a ‘book blogger’. This is something I haven’t resolved in five years – as I was a reader before I was a blogger but I was also a reader in a semi-permanent reader’s rut at the same time – part of the reason I was having guilt over ‘not blogging’ is I didn’t want to backslide into a period of time where I was ‘not reading’ and thereby, erasing the process of the past five years where I have re-established myself into the genres I love and finding my own rhythm for how I read/blog/tweet my reading life!

Another aspect of what was aiding my recovery post-migraines this July is the fact the Love Inspired novels were either Large Print, Larger Print or in the case of one of the Ms Worth novels “True Large Print” which for me felt GIGANTIC! lol I had started to notice this was something which was helpful to me as I was reading Harlequin Roms for some of the Prism Book Tours I was hosting throughout the past eight or so months? Those stories were generally in Large print themselves and being I had so many migraines to overcome, I noticed the font size being enlarged was a lovely step ‘back’ towards reading regular print!

Curious about which INSPY stories

caught my heart & left me musefully happy afterwards!?

Callahan Confidential series by Laura Scott Photography Credit: Jorie of jorielovesastory.com. Photo edits and collage created in Canva.

Shielding His Christmas Witness | thrifted

The Only Witness | ILL’d (inter-library loan)

*bookmark, FREE at my local library – I am in FULL agreement of the sentiment!

For Laura Scott, you might want to check-out my micro-blog about reading her #CallahanConfidential first as I was on the VERY edge of my cosy comfort chair awaiting the ‘final’ chapter to see what would become of Kari & Marc! You forsake SLEEP reading these Love Inspired Suspense novels!! At least, I find you do! I couldn’t dare think I’d have to take a wink & a nod away from the action! You barely get to catch your breath whilst your reading the story-line as so much is happening ALL at once! Plus, I like how the heroes of the stories are charmingly honest, realistically relatable and have their own fair share of faults to round off the joy of reading their adventures! Seriously though – if you want a slightly lighter side to your Suspense Reads but with the full-octane of traditional Suspense, you ought to give Laura Scott a chance at charming your bookish heart!

READ my microblogging notes!

Shielding His Christmas Witness (Callahan Confidential, Book One) by Laura Scott Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #CFSRS18
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Posted Sunday, 22 July, 2018 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Birthdays & Blogoversaries, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Bookish Memes, JLAS Update Post, Jorie Loves A Story, Photography of Jorie, Spontaneous Musings, Stories of Jorie, The Sunday Post

Audiobook Review | “Call to Arms” (Book Five: the Kay Hunter Detective series) by Rachel Amphlett, narrated by Alison Campbell

Posted Sunday, 27 May, 2018 by jorielov , , , , 2 Comments

Audiobook Review Badge made by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Audiobook By: I started to listen to audiobooks in [2016] as a way to offset my readings of print books whilst noting there was a rumour about how audiobooks could help curb chronic migraines as you are switching up how your reading rather than allowing only one format to be your bookish choice. As I found colouring and knitting agreeable companions to listening to audiobooks, I have embarked on a new chapter of my reading life where I spend time outside of print editions of the stories I love reading and exchange them for audio versions. Through hosting for the Audiobookworm I’ve expanded my knowledge of authors who are producing audio versions of their stories whilst finding podcasters who are sharing their bookish lives through pods (ie. AudioShelf and Talking Audiobooks; see my sidebar). Meanwhile, I am also curating my own wanderings in audio via my local library who uses Overdrive for their digital audiobook catalogue whilst making purchase requests for audio CDs. It is a wonderful new journey and one I enjoy sharing – I am hoping to expand the percentage of how many audios I listen to per year starting in 2018.

I received a complimentary audiobook copy of “Call to Arms” via Audiobookworm Promotions who is working directly with the author Rachel Amphlett in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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What held me in the throes of “Hell to Pay” and why I was itching for the next novel:

One nod of appreciation I have for Ms Amphlett is how she builds the tension and the back-story of this series – she tempts you at first with little nuggets of interest which start to paint the fuller picture behind Kay Hunter but then, she focuses on her days at work; how she interacts with her team and how they in turn perceive her whilst never giving us too many details about the purpose behind the series until you reach the fourth installment – where all the loose threads start to pool together, forming a tapestry of insight all of their own.

I was pushed so far outside my zone of comfort for a ‘hard-boiled Thriller’, I nearly did not know what to do to make my way through this installment – except, I remembered how Ms Amphlett would only take me ‘this far’ into the gritty bits before a ‘full stop’ would occur and a re-direction would happen to where I would either be blessedly back round in the team bantering out the case from all points of perspective or we’d happily enter one of the segue sequences where a lighter part of either Kay or one of the other members of her team would give us the pause we needed to reclaim the breath we’d forgotten to release!

I fell hard for this series from day one – from Scared to Death, thereby realising I would be a goner long before the series would end. In this, I knew I might hit sequences of the stories where I’d feel emotionally taxed and gutted as Kay – feeling as if I’d lived her life as dearly omnipresent as Alison Campbell and feel blessed by the pen of Ms Amphlett for taking me on this journey with Kay Hunter – as this is a series which pushes you, challenges you and gives you a reason to find a door of empathetic compassion to feel attached to the characters, the author and the narrator in one beautiful circle.

I might need to take a short break from disappearing into Call to Arms, the fifth installment and I am aware the sixth installment is already being written. The hardest part to resolve of course is how cleverly written the darker bits are constructed – of how everything pulls together in a believable execution of where you don’t feel short-changed but rather full of shock as much as Kay. Amphlett has a true gift for this kind of story-telling and I am blessed to have been introduced to her style on this blog tour.

-quoted from my review of Hell to Pay

Emotionally I was shattered, dear hearts after finishing Hell to Pay – I had this seriously emotional reaction to the end of the audiobook – being I was listening to it at a public library notwithstanding, when I finally hit the stop button and took full stock of my bearings, I was a muddled mess of emotions – finding myself surrounded by other patrons, who either were listening to audiobooks themselves, music or playing games – as everyone either had their own set of earphones plugged in, readily engaged with their own computers or the library’s and quite a number of them had a book in hand as well! To feel the kind of immersive experience I had felt in that kind of public environment is a true credit to both the author and the narrator – as I quite literally was hugged so dearly close to #KayHunter, I did not even realise the time nor hour or anything going on at the library itself!

As I pulled away my thoughts to contemplate what I had heard and the realisations of those revelations soaking in to the full measure of what they implied, I knew I had to take a brief hiatus before retreating back inside Call to Arms. Of course, mother nature would love to enthrall me with a delayed Spring (ie. a horrid burst of pollen season after a delightfully extended Winter) where rainshowers and thunderstorms alternated themselves for more than a fortnight – proving that sometimes even when your ready to soak into a beloved audiobook series, patience is a virtue you’ve mastered in order to await what is next in line for your bookish heart!

I hadn’t sorted out the timeline of my re-entrance either – which is why I was dearly surprised and happily reunited with Kay Hunter on this fifth blog tour – technically ‘second’ as the first four novels were in a combo-tour but I always felt they were four separate tours, as they were equally focusing on each of the novels in turn rather than in a mix-match of the stories out of sequence wherein happily all the bloggers taking part focused on the series in order of sequence rather than referencing them out of turn. It is quite lovely how the Audiobookworm organises her audiobook tours, in other words – especially for those of us keen on serial fiction!

With the time decided for me, I only had to set my heart and mind to re-enter into Kay Hunter’s shoes – something I almost fought at first, as so much was still hanging in the wind for our dear heroine – the one thing I did hope for her though, is a proper turning of tides – she puts her heart and soul into her job, loves her husband with a fierce protective passion and deserves a bit of goodwill coming her way to where her adversities could surely take a hiatus of their own!

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Audiobook Review | “Call to Arms” (Book Five: the Kay Hunter Detective series) by Rachel Amphlett, narrated by Alison CampbellCall to Arms
Subtitle: A Detective Kay Hunter novel

Loyalty has a price.

Kay Hunter has survived a vicious attack at the hands of one of the country’s most evil serial killers.

Returning to work after an enforced absence to recover, she discovers she wasn’t the only victim of that investigation.

DI Devon Sharp remains suspended from duties, and the team is in turmoil.

Determined to prove herself once more and clear his name, Kay undertakes to solve a cold case that links Sharp to his accuser.

But, as she gets closer to the truth, she realises her enquiries could do more harm than good.

Torn between protecting her mentor and finding out the truth, the consequences of Kay’s enquiries will reach far beyond her new role…

Call to Arms is a gripping murder mystery, and the fifth in the Detective Kay Hunter series:

1. SCARED TO DEATH
2. WILL TO LIVE
3. ONE TO WATCH
4. HELL TO PAY
5. CALL TO ARMS

A page-turning murder mystery for fans of Peter Robinson, David Baldacci and Harlen Coben.


Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ASIN: B07B75S6TJ

on 5th March, 2018

Length: 6 hours, 28 minutes (unabridged)

Published by: Saxon Publishing

Order of the Kay Hunter Detective series:
Scared to Death | Book One (see also Review)
Will to Live | Book Two (see also Review)
One to Watch | Book Three (see also Review)
Hell to Pay | Book Four (see also Review)
Call to Arms | Book Five

About Rachel Amphlett

Rachel Amphlettt

Before turning to writing, Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter series.

Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel cites her writing influences as Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Robert Ludlum. She’s also a huge fan of Peter James, Val McDermid, Robert Crais, Stuart MacBride, and many more.

She’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore's TIMECrime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany’s Luzifer Verlag.

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Posted Sunday, 27 May, 2018 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 21st Century, Audiobook, Audiobookworm Promotions, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), British Literature, Crime Fiction, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Detective Fiction, England, Good vs. Evil, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Indie Author, Lady Detective Fiction, Mental Health, Modern Day, Post-911 (11th September 2001), Psychological Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Sociological Behavior, True Crime

Book Review | “Idyll Fears” (Book Two: of the Thomas Lynch Novels) by Stephanie Gayle

Posted Friday, 4 May, 2018 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 reviewer for Prometheus Books and their imprints starting in [2016] as I contacted them through their Edelweiss catalogues and Twitter. I appreciated the diversity of titles across genre and literary explorations – especially focusing on Historical Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction and Scientific Topics in Non-Fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of “Idyll Fears” direct from the publisher Seventh Street Books (an imprint of Prometheus Books) in exchange for an honest review. The copy of “Idyll Threats” I borrowed via interlibrary loan through my local library I was not obligated to post a review as I am doing so for my own edification as a reader who loves to share her readerly life. I was not compensated for my thoughts shared herein.

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On why I thought I’d enjoy this series and how I approached starting to read it:

As this is a series in progress, I wanted to seek out the first novel in the series Idyll Threats – seemingly easy at first, as it was simply a matter of queuing into my ILL-cat (ie. Interlibrary loan catalogue) to fetch a copy and then awaiting the book to arrive. However, the trouble ensued shortly after it was borrowed as for whichever reason, the copy I had been sent by the lending library not only smelt oddly but it was difficult to read – the ordour and the condition of the pages were quite horrid – I could barely handle reading a few passages, so I skipped around a bit in the opening chapters, trying to ascertain an instinct of insight into the lead character: Thomas Lynch before returning it to the library with a critical complaint on its condition.

What I gathered in my short readings was a man who reminded me of Jesse Stone but without the warm sympathetic personality; Lynch was hardened, not just due to life but due to the fact he was living within a region where there is staunch prejudice towards different lifestyles – as he’s an openly gay police chief, you can well imagine the difficulties he faces on the job and in his down-time.

I was a bit concerned with the undertone of the series, as at first reading, I noticed the series is ‘clipped and short’ in both temper and style. It’s hard to put it into words, but this had a decidedly ‘different’ approach to telling a police procedural story. In many regards, I was aching for Jesse Stone to walk into scene as Lynch himself is hard to approach – his personality is edgy at best but it’s his dedication to the job and to the citizens he’s protecting which does (sort of) win you over. I say this as even before I picked up Idyll Fears, I had a keen suspicion what I forethought about the series was ill-placed, as this could soon become a DNF for me instead. Still. Despite the false-starts, I kept trying to begin reading it – to see if I could gleam insight into who Lynch is and to gather a better feel for how Gayle plots us through his life.

In essence, wherein I warmed immediately to Marjorie Trumaine, Anna Blanc, Hiro Hattori and even Samuel Craddock – the four investigators I love most from Seventh Street Books authors, Lynch unfortunately was a hard person to feel inclined to know more about simply because I found the series more than a bit off-putting by how it was told and developed. It had nothing to do with Lynch being openly gay either – as I regularly read LGBTQ+ stories wherein there are many lead characters who are gay or lesbian including my beloved sleuthing series spearheaded by the lovely Willa Cather and Edith Lewis. No, it has to do with tone, delivery and the undercurrents of how this series is set to life – it just didn’t jazz well with me to be honest.

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Book Review | “Idyll Fears” (Book Two: of the Thomas Lynch Novels) by Stephanie GayleIdyll Fears
Subtitle: A Thomas Lynch Novel

Police Chief Thomas Lynch investigates the disappearance of a six-year-old boy with a serious medical condition while coping with disrespect from townspeople and colleagues who don’t like the fact that he’s gay.

It’s two weeks before Christmas 1997, and Chief Thomas Lynch faces a crisis when Cody Forrand, a six-year-old with a life-threatening medical condition, goes missing during a blizzard. The confusing case shines a national spotlight on the small, sleepy town of Idyll, Connecticut, where small-time crime is already on the rise and the police seem to be making mistakes left and right. Further complicating matters, Lynch, still new to town, finds himself the target of prank calls and hate speech that he worries is the work of a colleague, someone struggling to accept working with a gay chief of police.

With time ticking away, Lynch is beginning to doubt whether he’ll be able to bring Cody home safely…and whether Idyll could ever really be home.


Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781633883574

on 5th September, 2017

Pages: 320

Published By: Seventh Street Books (@SeventhStBooks)

Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook

About Stephanie Gayle

Stephanie Gayle Photo Credit: Sayamindu Dasgupta

Stephanie Gayle is the author of Idyll Threats, the first Thomas Lynch Novel, and My Summer of Southern Discomfort, which was chosen as one of Redbook’s Top Ten Summer Reads and was a Book Sense monthly pick. Gayle has also published stories and narrative nonfiction pieces, including two Pushcart Prize nominees.

Photo Credit: Sayamindu Dasgupta

The Thomas Lynch Novels:

Series Overview: A gay police chief in small-town Connecticut must deal with close-minded attitudes and threats to his career while he investigates serious crime.

Idyll Threats by Stephanie GayleIdyll Fears by Stephanie Gayle

Idyll Threats | Book One | Synopsis

Idyll Fears | Book Two

Idyll Hands | Book Three | Synopsis ← forthcoming release September, 2018!

Converse via: #ThomasLynch + #Mysteries

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Posted Friday, 4 May, 2018 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Crime Fiction, Detective Fiction, Prometheus Books, Small Towne USA, Texas, Vulgarity in Literature