Gifted Book By: This novel “Cassandra” was part of a gifted #bookhaul of mine from my Mum and Dad for #WyrdAndWonder, Year 4! They happily surprised me with a lovely bundle of books I featured last Wyrd And Wonder celebrating the Indie Publisher Odyssey Books! This kicks-off my readings of those novels as I was overjoyed I can read all the lovely stories I had either showcased and/or featured but wasn’t able to read during our Year 3 Wyrd And Wonder.
Thereby, I was gifted a copy of “Cassandra” by my parents and I was not obligated to post a review on its behalf. I am sharing my thoughts on behalf of this novel for my own edification and a continued journey of sharing my readerly life on Jorie Loves A Story. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Note: I received the Press Materials last year from the publisher and had asked if I could re-use them if and when I was able to read and/or review the stories I was featuring during Wyrd And Wonder Year 3 (2020); and thankfully was given permission to do so which is why I am using them during my readings this 4th Year of Wyrd And Wonder.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I first was introduced to Mythological Fantasy through my readings during the first #Mythothon (@Mythothon) hosted by a dear friend, Louise @foxesfairytale. I was truly overtaken by all the different stories you can root out to read and how depending on the theme of what you wanted to read in Mythological Fantasy, you could take quite a wondrously lovely journey into this new (slightly hidden) niche of Fantasy literature. Ever since those first readings of mine, I’ve wanted to continue to join #Mythothon each year, but something seems to distract my attention or avert the hours I need in order to read during those events. Try as I might, I’ve missed a few rounds of the event and have set my eye on September, 2021 to re-join the community of readers who will be taking part in that round.
The credit goes to Louise for helping me re-look at this niche of literature and of unearthing such a wonderful foray into how stories set round different sets of Mythologies can become such entertaining reads! In this instance, I was wicked happy a copy of Cassandra was amongst the #bookhaul selections my parents surprised me with this Wyrd And Wonder, as I had known this was based on the myth of Cassandra but I hadn’t truly known much more than that before I started reading the story this May.
Cassandra is an intricate coming-of age story, wherein we follow in the footsteps of Cassandra (ie. Cassie) from a young girl into a budding young adult, as she curiously starts to recognise she has a gift for premonitions and knowing the future ahead of its arrival – but how that translates through her childhood and how she personally processes her precognitive thoughts and foreknowledge is uniquely writ into a backdrop of a life on a farm in Australia. Gossow takes you into this interpersonal journey of Cassie, as she navigates her home life, the pains of having a younger brother and of course, school life, too.
When I first started reading this story, I thought it was going to end up in a certain place by the end – yet, the final quarter of the novel tested my ability to stay rooted in the story and to find the ending. I just felt myself detaching from that mark in the book and I didn’t enjoy the final chapters as much as I had the rest of the novel as you’ll read in my review.
On a remote farm in Queensland, Cassie Shultz feels useless. Her perfect brother Alex has an uncanny ability to predict the weather, and the fortunes of the entire family hinge upon his forecasts. However, her own gift for prophecy remains frustratingly obscure. Attempts to help her family usually result in failure.
After meeting with her new genius neighbour Athena, Cassie thinks she has unlocked the secret of her powers. But as her visions grow more vivid, she learns that the cost of honing her gift may be her sanity.
With her family breaking apart, the future hurtles towards Cassie faster than she can comprehend it.
My book Cassandra is a reimagining of the myth of Cassandra, set in Australian in the 1980s.
It was a finalist for Best Fantasy Novel in the Australian Aurealis Awards.
Converse via: #Fantasy, #UpperYA, #Cassandra
as well as #OdysseyBooks & #WyrdAndWonder
About Kathryn Gossow
Kathryn Gossow is a writer and sometimes gardener living in a two acre garden in a pocket of the Brisbane River. When she is writing, her garden is a mess. When she is gardening, she forgets to write. It seems she cannot have both. She writes for that elusive feeling when she gets into the zone and there is nothing else in the world but her and the words that tumble onto the page. Kathryn has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, won a commendation in the Australian Horror Writers’ Association Flash Fiction Competition and has a number of published stories out in the world.
Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.
What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.
I received a complimentary copy of “How to Fall in Love with a Man You Thought You Hated” direct from the author Elizabeth Adams in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On how much I already LOVE the author Elizabeth Adams:
This year was quite extraordinary already when it comes to featuring interviews on Jorie Loves A Story – as Ms Adams happily took up the challenge I presented to her via a respun Top Ten Tuesday wherein we explored her writerly style in this wicked lovely vlog interview!
The focus of course – was PRIDE AND PREJUDICE which is rather apt as the novel on this lovely blog tour is a PRIDE variant – wherein you can nearly guess the plot simply by taking stock of the title!
Last year, during one of my @SatBookChat‘s – I hosted Christina Boyd and Ms Adams was one of the authors who came into the chat – as we were celebrating their 2020 release by the Quill Collective “Elizabeth: Obstinate Headstrong Girl!! She provided so much wicked good commentary & laughter to the chat, it became one of my top favourite #SatBookChat’s as a result.
For #AudiobookMonth this June, I’ll be revisiting my listening of “Elizabeth: Obstinate Girl” but ahead of those lovely festivities – I was thankful to get a stop on this lovely blog tour which is featuring one of Ms Adams’ novels. I have only been acquainted with her stories in audiobook – this is the first time I’ve had the chance to read one of hers in print and I was wickedly delighted by the prospect!
IF you love Jane Austen’s worlds & characters – keep your eyes on Elizabeth Adams and the Quill Collective authors respectively – they are shining stars in the world of after canon lit for Austen!
Notation on Cover Art & Design: As soon as I first looked at this cover art, I knew it was fittingly wicked for this story. There was something about it – the images themselves (front/back) and the colours of hues – plus it had this Jane Austen variant feel to it as the text and layout all worked together brilliantly. It would definitely make a wonderful poster to grace your library!
For Elizabeth Bennet, Charlotte is the friend who is—annoyingly—always right. Colonel Fitzwilliam is the mischievous brother she never had. And if their convictions that Mr. Darcy is in love with her are correct, he could be the lover she’s always wanted.
There’s only one problem—he tried to ruin her favorite sister’s life, and she made an absolute fool of herself in front of him.
Can lasting happiness come out of such a beginning? And can a man die from chasing a woman too quick to be caught? Darcy is about to find out.
Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov as well as #JaneAusten
+ #PrideAndPrejudice Variant or #AfterCanon
as well as #HFVBTBlogTours
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
About Elizabeth Adams
Elizabeth Adams is a book-loving, tango-dancing, Austen enthusiast. She loves old houses and thinks birthdays should be celebrated with trips – as should most occasions. She can often be found by a sunny window with a cup of hot tea and a book in her hand.
She writes romantic comedy and comedic drama in both historic and modern settings.
I actually happen to read more dramatic stories and rarely allow myself the pleasure of reading comedic stories – even the romances I read have realistic bits inside them to where it has more drama than comedy! I also read a lot of INSPY Suspense & Cosy Mysteries – as I was a girl who devoured murder mysteries on tv (still do!) – so, realistically I had to respin today’s topic! Ergo, I wanted to focus on a different topic of interest today and bring to my blog one of my favourite JA after canon novelists I’ve chatted with late last year (2020) via my Saturday chat @SatBookChat whilst discussing the anthologies of stories inspired by Jane Austen produced by The Quill Collective!
Side note:
She left me in stitches of laughter during #SatBookChat, so there’s that! (smirks)
Jorie’s topic for Elizabeth Adams:
Top Ten Reasons Why “Pride and Prejudice”
never fails to win a reader’s heart even as its respun
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
Could today’s respun topic for Top Ten Tuesday have been evermore customised to my own readerly heart!? Perhaps not! I mean, ever since I first read PRIDE, I’ve been enchanted by the characters, the story and the setting. This is why throughout the past seven (as technically, its not my eighth year blogging on Jorie Loves A Story until my 8th blogoversary come 31st March!) years you’ve found a lovely array of after canon selections from different contemporary authors being featured as I’ve discovered their stories!
This includes my *fierce!* appreciation for The Quill Collective’s work on behalf of their anthologies – which is why having them gather together during a past #SatBookChat meant the world to me and why I am still working on archiving that chat. You might have caught sight of my review for “Rational Creatures” and the first half of my review for “Elizabeth: Obstinate Headstrong Girl”. I still have the second half of my review in the works and a review for “Yuletide” forthcoming.
You might have also seen my readings for Colin Hemingway’s trilogy about “The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen” – Part I, Part II or Part III as well as a follow-up interview to conclude my stay inside his world on behalf of Jane Austen. Although he didn’t quite write an after canon per se about her stories, he did write a theorised viewing of her life and in effect, portions of how he portrayed her life echoed moments from her stories and novels. As most writers do leave behind an essence of themselves inside their stories.
Whilst at the start of 2020 you might have seen me ducking into a fantastical respun world of “Pride and Prejudice” wherein there were *dragons!* – a lovely first set of stories by an author (Maria Grace) devouting herself to respinning multiple installments from the Austen canon but started off with PRIDE: Pemberbley: Mr Darcy’s Dragon; Longbourn: Dragon Entail and Netherfield: Rogue Dragon; each of these installments were from the perspective of her narrator Benjamin Fife of whom did a wonderful job of bringing her world to life.
There are other after canon stories I’ve blogged and reviewed over the years, which you will kindly find via my Story Vault. As much as I LOVED participating in #AustenInAugust whilst Roof Beam Reader hosted the event. In 2017 you might have seen I wrote a guest essay about my personal journey through Jane Austen’s stories and how her stories have touched my heart over the years.
Whenever I get a chance to read a new after canon story, host a JA novelist and storycrafter or get the chance to read a story in the essence of Austen, I truly jump at the chance as these are the kind of stories which give me such a burst of JOY to find, savour and discover. After all, I wouldn’t be a Janeite if I didn’t keep my eyes peeled for more #awesomesauce stories funnelling out of our mutual passions for all things Austen!
Brew yourself a cuppa and settle into listening to Ms Adams respond to my enquiries!
And, I hope this vlog interview will give you a wicked good start to #TopTenTuesday!
And, if you have a spot of extra time – stay for my responses which are below the vlog!
Sons of Pemberley (Spotlight/Vlog Interview) Subtitle: A Pride and Prejudice Reimagining by Elizabeth Adams
What if Lady Anne Darcy was alive to meet Elizabeth Bennet?
A sweeping tale of tragedy, devotion, and betrayal—spanning over 25 years and two generations—this family saga explores the life Fitzwilliam Darcy would have had if his mother had not died young.
An up-close view of the Darcys’ marriage and Fitzwilliam’s childhood … a retelling of the circumstances that shaped the man we have come to love … a reimagining of the friendships and relationships that formed each iconic character … a tale of love, loss, heartbreak, and triumph—that is Sons of Pemberley.
Converse via: #JaneAusten, #Pemberley and #SonsOfPemberley
Top Ten Reasons Why “Pride and Prejudice”
never fails to win a reader’s heart even as its respun
by Elizabeth Adams
Inspiration from Jorie for this Topic: This particular conversation practically knitted itself together from the moment I first conceived it and then, after the author ran with the prompts I sent over to her to use on her vlog response!
Welcome to my [special] Enter the Fantastic guest feature rooted in the lore and appeal of ‘Cinderella’ which happily befits #FolkloreThursday! I cannot recollect how old I was when I first drew a close connection to Cinderella – both the character and her story, however, as a teenager, the actress I’ve realised this week could have been my elder sis, respun this lovely tale into the beauty of what became ‘Ever After’. I can never tire of that adaptation due to the brilliant way in which Drew Barrymore gave life and depth to Danielle as much as how the film honoured both the character of Cinderella and re-told the tale in such a Feminist driven plotting – you cannot help but take stock of *everything!* contained within it!
The key reason I wanted to host her this September on this unexpected blog tour (thank you, Ms Burke for announcing it in your author’s newsletter!) is because I had already slated myself to finally dive back into the first novel in her duology “Daughter of Sun, Bride of Ice” – a unique Fantasy storyline I had hoped to listen and review last year, but had to keep pushing it forward until I could lay heart and mind into the storyline. I requeued this for #SelfPubFantasyMonth (my first year to join the celebrations!) during September as I’ve been wanting to re-explore Fantasy and the fantastical realms I love being a traveller ever since Wyrd And Wonder concluded this year and I fell short of my end goals. (courtesy of my neverending chronic migraines which love to rage during *May!* the height of pollen season! OY!)
Let me give a short recap of my ‘Wednesday’ which ought to have been a proper ‘manic Monday’ instead – woke by 630a, wherein a two hour appointment turnt into seven whilst the whole day round was one near disaster after another and all told, I didn’t get back home til after 10p! The key reason this post was delayed wasn’t due to my insane Wednesday – it was due to the fact my connectivity went fully wonk yesterday afternoon shortly after receiving confirmation about this lovely guest post as this blog tour was assembled quite fast compared to other tours I’ve hosted wherein I had more than half a day to prep to share it. I didn’t get on til after midnight rounding out my day to a full 18+ hours!!
Ergo, forgive the delay but let’s celebrate why you’ve landed on Jorie Loves A Story! I could not have done more if I desired it and I shared this as quick as I could wherein having my connectivity resolved was one nightmaric obstacle I was thankful I didn’t have to worry over for another day!
If you love CINDERELLA, wait til you meet the characters within ASHEN –
And yet, before we can do that, we need to better understand how ASHEN was bourne! Brew yourself a lovely cuppa, dear hearts and let’s drink in Ms Burke’s words together about how she cobbled together a story which was sparked out of the COLD!
Stealer of warmth, bringer of death. What if Cinderella had a secret that kept her locked away?
Unable to make her own body heat, foundling Lizbete survives in the tavern kitchen, drawing warmth from the fires, the sun—and sometimes, other living beings. Her days are spent cooking alongside the tavern owner and avoiding the suspicious gazes of the villagers in her small northern town. While she quietly longs for the handsome Brynar, she knows she has no chance with the mayor’s son, even if he invites her to the First Frost festival.
When sudden earthquakes strike Brumehome, blame falls upon Lizbete, and not even her friendship with Brynar can protect her. She finds shelter in the dangerous caverns of nearby Ash Mountain. There she discovers mysterious people with her same ability to draw heat—and a fiery doom in the mountain that slowly awakens with every quake.
Now the festival Lizbete thought to avoid is her only chance to warn the villagers. Yet even with Brynar at her side, can the strange girl dubbed the Ash Lizard hope to save the town that fears her?
A rugged YA Cinderella retelling set in a fantasy world with light steampunk elements.
Genre(s): Folklore & Fairytales, After Canon Stories, Reinventing Cinderella
Converse via: #FolkloreThursday, #Mythothon and #Cinderella
as well as #Ashen, #Fantasy and #Classics
About H.L. Burke
Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.
An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.
Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.
Heidi was Cold and had NO MARINE so she wrote an MC that couldn’t get cuddles to take it out on her. The end.
K, I’m done. I can has cookie … wait, no, apparently this post needs more words. Um, hmm ….
In early 2019, a knee injury made it impossible for my husband to continue his military career. While he started separation paperwork (from the military, not us, but … yeah, spoilers, the military kept us separated off and on for almost a year), the plan was for me to move up to Oregon with the girls, look for a house, get them started in school, and then he’d join us once his retirement was finalized.
We left for Oregon in May. Matt didn’t join us (except for short visits) until March of 2020.
In the meantime, I did get a house: an older one that I love for it’s quirkiness and personality, but yeah … in the winter it’s drafty.
So there I was, in a house that could get fairly cold at night, with no husband to snuggle up against, and I started thinking about a protagonist whose primary issue is that she’s cold. Why is she cold? Maybe she can’t get near people because she takes their heat. She’s a heat vampire. Maybe it can get to the point where she can accidentally freeze someone to death if she touches them for too long …
And from that sprang Lizbete, a lonely little sad floof who just wants to connect with others but is afraid to because her need to draw heat from external sources makes her a danger to those closest to her.
Then she started hanging out in the ashes by the fire, and I was like, “Dang, people are going to think that’s a Cinderella reference … maybe it IS. Oh gosh … this is a Cinderella retelling.”
My husband is home now, by the way (thanks for asking). And (without being too spoilery), I promise Lizbete also gets her happy ending.
I, admit, when I learnt where the Burke’s were living right now, I shuddered because my heart, my very soul has been so dearly attached to newsfeeds via streaming news services out of Oregon for the past fortnight (at least!) that I feel as if I’m going through the whole atrocity with them! My heart was in full grief that for the second time this year the environment, the landscape and the lives of the persons living in the path of wildfires were being irrevocably affected by what the fires are afflicting on the wildlife and on the humans who are falling victim to the fire.
I’ve been to Oregon – I LOVED Oregon and the whole Pacific Northwest (PNW) as the climate was so much more gentler than were I am myself – you couldn’t find the sun if you tried back then (in the late 90s) and blessedly it was not humid, nor hot and in the middle of June it was a blustery environ of oceanic breezes and the chilly comfort of overcast grey skies with a chill in the air as the natural thermostat was in the low 50s! It was my own bit of Heaven,…
This makes it even more special I think to help book boost an author whose living there and dealing with such a heavy load – not just the wildfires of today, but as you’ve read, she had to shoulder the relocation *and!* the adjustment of waiting out her husband’s retirement! The strength that takes and the toll it can have on your person is incredible. I am full of gratitude for her sacrifices and for his service.
I didn’t understand the theme of the post at first – let’s just blame my inability to see her cheekified humour on soldiering through a bluster of a migraine this week, too much personal IRL stress and a newfound joy of finding out I can BAKE a SCONE. Okay, that last bit? That’s the bright rainbow of joyfulness that marked a turning of tides this week, wells, til you know, Wednesday arrived and you would have found me at sixes and sevens – running round ragged and pushing through heat exhaustion because you know, Summer has a wrath of the volcanic on you! Throw in a few birds of prey, a real bonefide rainbow and some unexpected blessings today and it rounded out to a lovely day despite the angst and the afflicted way in which I felt the day would never end.
I finally caught on to her humour and it was a refreshing look into how she approaches her craft of writing whilst giving out a personal antidote from the life behind the books as Ms Burke has somehow managed to achieve what I haven’t yet – write and continue to develop her writerly craft whilst living through circumstances that would give the impression you might not feel as creatively inclined to accomplish anything at all. I give full credit to all creatives who can push through that kind of incredible weight of stress and circumstance and produce wicked incredible stories – Ms Burke is one author to keep your eyes on — she’s going to surprise you and I hope you’ll find the stories she’s penning as entertaining as I do!
Meanwhile, despite the rocky start to hosting for this lovely Indie Press, I am hopeful they’ll forgive my delay to post as I’d love to continue to work with them on future blog tours. I love championing Indie Publishers & Press as much as Indie & Self published authors – as throughout the past seven years on Jorie Loves A Story, those are the creative economists and storycrafters I take great pride in discovering, reading and being a book cheerleader for as I expand my literary horizons.
A reader’s thoughts on behalf of ASHEN:
Although this Cinderella retelling twists them into something quite different, it retains most of the traditional elements of the story; the girl given a nick-name due to being covered in ashes, the cruel guardian, the “ball” attended in disguise, shoes of glass and the giant lava-dwelling fire octopus.
OK, so that last one isn’t usually part of the story but it really ought to be. The story flows easily from the first page effortlessly drawing you in and keeping you enthralled right through to the end. -LJ
I don’t usually share a quote by another reviewer, however, in this particular case I could not miss the chance to share this one – as I felt she captured it brilliantly how attached we insta-feel towards Burke’s writings. I know I felt that way last year! And, of course, I cannot wait to read ASHEN but it might take me a bit before I can bring a copy of it home. I definitely hope to fetch a copy via my library but for now, I’m wicked happy I can champion it on the blog tour!
Kindly seek out more travellers of the fantastical to gain more insight off this lovely blog tour – whilst finding yourself wickedly delighted by what you find! As you click through the tour banner, you will find links to guide your route! Plus, you’ll find a link to the Facebook Launch Party – I can’t go as I’m on #bookTwitter but GO if you are on Facebook!
This guest feature is part of my continuous journey to #EnterTheFantastic!
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Ashen”, book synopsis, author guest post, promo quote badges for “Ashen”, blog tour banner as well as the review extract were all provided by the publisher Uncommon Universes Press and are used with permission. The author photo and biography were previously provided by H.L. Burke and are used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Guest Posts and Reviews banner, #EnterTheFantastic banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Cassandra
How to Fall in Love with a Man You Thought You Hated
Sons of Pemberley (Spotlight/Vlog Interview)
Ashen
