Genre: Romance Fiction

Author Interview | in conversation with Mandy Baggot about “My Greek Island Summer”!

Posted Sunday, 26 April, 2020 by jorielov Head of Zeus, Mandy Baggot, My Greek Island Summer 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

When I was offered to showcase a special 20x Question Interview with an author I’ve been curious to start reading for this lovely blog tour, I couldn’t wait to sort out the questions I wanted to ask Ms Baggot! I loved the concept of hosting 20 curiously interesting questions to ask an author whose celebrating their 20th release in publishing! It is quite the wicked awesomesauce milestone for Ms Baggot – the honour was doubled for me to not only host her during this special release blog tour but to have the chance to ask questions I might not normally ask whilst hosting a blog tour of its nature!

I truly decided to have a bit of fun with what to ask & as you will tell by her responses – she had an equally delightful time in crafting her replies! I liked how throughout the conversation you get to see a bit of her personality & you get to learn a bit about her craft of writing stories – one thing which shines through is her avid love & admiration for *Greece!* I could definitely understand her passion for setting stories in this country just by how she was addressing my enquiries and how her responses link back to a country which has taken over a piece of her heart. You can see why she likes to set her stories there – I would imagine it is both self-renewing as a writer to spilt her time there as much as it is a soul lift to be amongst people who truly embrace the epitome of friendship and community.

It was my hope if you’ve become a long-time appreciator of her stories and/or if you’re a newbie to her style of Contemporary Romances (such as I am!) – there is something for each of us to enjoy by reading through an interview which moves from topic to topic and yet gives you unique takeaways about the author as you might not have seen her previously! I look forward to your reactions in the comments – as we celebrate Ms Baggot’s 20th release.

I am so very appreciative of the time Ms Baggot took in responding to this interview and the joy she gave me as a host to be featuring this during the blog tour’s final day!

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

My Greek Island Summer
Subtitle: A laugh out loud summe romance
by Mandy Baggot

Two weeks. One unforgettable trip to Corfu. A chance to change her life.

Becky Rose has just landed her dream job house-sitting at a top-end villa on the island of Corfu. What could be better than two weeks laying by an infinity pool overlooking the gorgeous Ionian waters while mending her broken heart.

Elias Mardas is travelling back to Corfu on business whilst dealing with his own personal demons. Late arriving in Athens, Becky and Elias have to spend a night in the Greek capital. When they have to emergency land in Kefalonia, Becky's got to decide whether to suck up the adventure and this gorgeous companion she seems to have been thrown together with or panic about when she's going to arrive at Corfu...

Finally reaching the beautiful island, Becky is happy to put Elias behind her and get on with her adventure. Until he turns up at the villa...

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

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1838933432

Also by this author: A Perfect Paris Christmas

Published by Head of Zeus

on 4th June, 2020

Published By: Head of Zeus (@HoZ_Books)

Available Formats:

Ebook released 2nd April, 2020!
Trade Paperback releases 9th July, 2020!

Converse via: #MyGreekIslandSummer, #Contemporary #WomensFiction

Posted Sunday, 26 April, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Head of Zeus, Reader Submitted Q&A, Women's Fiction

Author Interview | in conversation with Adrianna Schuh about “A Whole New Me”!

Posted Tuesday, 21 April, 2020 by jorielov A Whole New Me, Adrianna Schuh, Self Published 0 Comments

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

What a busy *April!* it has become for myself and my family – I haven’t been focusing on reading, I must admit, these past few weeks. There has been such a lot to get done – especially as I wanted to do whatever I could to help my Mum recover from her accident – which was three weeks ago this past Sunday.

Whilst at the same time, last week felt like a humdinger of a week simply due to have we had to stack our hours – wherein we were stuffing five hours of things to get done ahead of Mum’s double shifts! Oy. It did take its toll – this is why over the weekend, I focused more on cooking dishes in my new Instant Pot Rice & Grain cooker than I did sorting out where I left off with the books I was attempting to read! I just needed a bit of downtime – however, in regards to this blog tour directly, I had to shift a few things round how I am participating on the blog tour.

With everything going on lately, I had overlooked the fact the novel hadn’t yet arrived by Post – as I was originally meant to feature a book review on behalf of “A Whole New Me”. In lieu of having the book in hand to read – I’ve quickly taken a moment to put together a short & concise Author’s Q&A wherein I asked the author Ms Schuh a few questions I felt were pertinent to her story as well as a bit of a look behind her writerly style.

I am hoping you will enjoy getting this small preview about “A Whole New Me” whilst I await the book by post! I look forward to settling into the context of the story – as this is a New Adult novel and a Contemporary Romance all tied together! I rarely read New Adult – as the story truly has to speak to me before I’ll consider it – this one felt like a story I might find to surprise me. Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are and if you are a regular reader of New Adult Contemporary Romance!

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

A Whole New Me
by Adrianna Schuh
Source: Direct from Skye Book Tours

Tessa has something to prove and she wants to use Ricky to do it.

She's not surprised when he agrees to her friends with benefits plan, but she is surprised when it seems like Ricky wants more than she's willing to give.

Can she keep Ricky without giving him hope for something more?

Because Tessa won't let this be love.

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

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 979-8631675926

Published by Self Published

on 28th March, 2020

Format: Trade Paperback

Available Formats:

Ebook releases 1st of May, 2020!
Trade Paperback happily already released this March!

Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance & #NewAdult

Posted Tuesday, 21 April, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, College & University Years, Contemporary Romance, Indie Author, New Adult Fiction, Reader Submitted Q&A, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction

#HarlequinHeartwarming Blog Book Tour | “Her Surprise Cowboy” (Book Three of the Heroes of Shelter Creek series) by Claire McEwen

Posted Friday, 10 April, 2020 by jorielov Claire McEwen, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, Her Surprise Cowboy, Heroes of Shelter Creek 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 Surprise Cowboy” direct from the author Claire McEwen in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

This is one of my top favourite #CowboyRomances by Harlequin Heartwarming:

The beauty really are the authors Harlequin has within Heartwarming and Love Inspired – they know how to write the drama within the romance but also how to write compelling series with realistic characters & narratives which are a joy to be reading. I get quite giddy whenever there is a new author to read from Heartwarming or Love Inspired – whilst having the chance to participate on one of their blog tours is quite icing on the romantic cake! I love celebrating authors who are writing the STORIES which give me a heart full of blissitude to be #amreading – thus, for the past two years I’ve been hosting PRISM’s blog tours, I’ve been doubly blessed to become acquainted with the Heartwarming imprint and their series!

The Cowboy Romances I am wicked addicted to reading
by this lovely imprint are the following:

The Rocky Mountain Cowboys by Karen Rock

Return of the Blackwell Brothers by Carol Ross, Anna J. Stewart,
Melinda Curtis, Cari Lynn Webb & Amy Vastine

The Heroes of Shelter Creek by Claire McEwen

I’ll be honest – before I even knew a whisper of a hint of where this story would take me – the novel perked my interest for a singular word in the book’s title: *cowboy!* I know, that sounds interesting doesn’t it? How can one word in a book’s title give you the wickedest sweet joy of anticipation in order to read a story? You’d have to go back into my childhood & teenage years to realise that I read quite a lot of lovely Cowboy & Western Fiction! So much so, this is one reason I was wickedly thankful to have found the Rocky Mountain Cowboys & Return of the Blackwell Brothers over the last few years – because they’ve given me *contemporary!* cowboys I can rally behind rather than my usual guilty pleasure of reading the Historicals!

Open country, horse-back riding, close-knit families & communities who care about each other is what draws me into Cowboy Fiction & stories of the West. However, you can find cowboys in nearly every state – outside of my wanderings in the Rockies and other points West – I have found some of the most delightful stories are about Northern California ranchers & ranches! This particular story is set in NorCal and I was wicked excited about meeting the community of Shelter Creek but even moreso – the characters who populate the towne and the series itself!

I *completely!* forgot there was a sequel releasing in September, 2019! Mind you, most of last Autumn was the beginning of my six months of health afflictions (combination of migraines & bad colds) – however, the *good news!* is I’ve found “After the Rodeo” listed on a used book website and that makes me smile because when I’m able to order a copy I’ll be purchasing this lovely along with a few other Harlequin Heartwarming stories I’ve not had the chance to ‘add’ to my personal library!

I look forward to ‘meeting’ Jace & Vivian’s story after I’ve had the chance to bring this story home. I’m not a stranger to reading a Harlequin Heartwarming series ‘out of sequence’ of the series either – I’ve done this in the past with Karen Rock’s Rocky Mountain Cowboys and there are others as well – it is one of the few imprints & publishers wherein the authors make it easier for you to navigate between installments of their series!

Something I am truly thankful to have experienced – even though, in the end, I’ll be gathering all the installments and re-reading the series start to finish as I personally love watching the growth and maturity of a series as it takes root, stock and height in the development of the characters’ lives, the community’s involvement behind their lives and the continuity the writer intuits into the series – I know for other readers, they like to dip in and out of a series.

Her Surprise Cowboy
Subtitle: Heroes of Shelter Creek
by Claire McEwen, Ms Claire McEwen
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

Looking for redemption…

Finding a future

Rancher Liam Dale is in Shelter Creek to make amends for his troubled past. He had no idea vet assistant Trisha Gilbert would be there, too—and he’s even more shocked to discover he’s a daddy! Trisha has good reasons not to trust him and a baby boy to protect. But now that he knows he’s a father, Liam longs to transform this unexpected reunion into a true family.

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Ranches & Cowboys, Romance Fiction, Western Fiction, Western Romance

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335889676

Also by this author: Reunited with the Cowboy, After the Rodeo, Rescuing the Rancher

Also in this series: Reunited with the Cowboy, After the Rodeo, Second Chance Cowboy, Rescuing the Rancher

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 7th April, 2020

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Pages: 384

The Heroes of Shelter Creek series:

Reunited with the Cowboy (book one) – Caleb & Maya’s story

After the Rodeo (book two) – Jace & Vivian’s story ← the one I missed!

Her Surprise Cowboy (book three) – Liam & Trisha’s story

Rescuing the Rancher (book four) → forthcoming September, 2020!

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: #CowboyRomance, #WesternRomance & #ContemporaryRomance
as well as #HSCPrism and #HarlequinHeartwarming with #HeroesOfShelterCreek

About Claire McEwen

Claire McEwen writes stories about strong heroes and heroines who take big, emotional journeys to find their happily-ever-after. She lives by the ocean in Northern California with her family and a scruffy, mischievous terrier. When she’s not writing, Claire enjoys gardening, reading and discovering flea-market treasures. She loves to hear from readers!

Posted Friday, 10 April, 2020 by jorielov in 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, California, Child out of Wedlock, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary Western Fiction, Cowboys & Ranches, Drugs & Alcohol, Family Life, Life Shift, Modern Day, Prism Book Tours, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Self-Harm Practices, Single Mothers, Singletons & Commitment, Sisterhood friendships, Small Towne Fiction, Small Towne USA, Unexpected Pregnancy, Western Fiction, Western Romance, Women's Fiction

#HarlequinHeartwarming Book Review | “Second Chance for the Single Dad” (Pacific Cove Romance, Book Four) by Carol Ross

Posted Thursday, 9 April, 2020 by jorielov Carol Ross, Harlequin Books, Harlequin Heartwarming, Pacific Cove Romance series, Second Chance for the Single Dad 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. 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 “Second Chance for the Single Dad” direct from author Carol Ross in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I love reading Carol Ross & Harlequin Heartwarming novelists:

You might have caught my #TopTenTuesday recently where I disclosed how much I personally LOVE reading Harlequin Heartwarming novelists – so much so, I felt they need to be championed more often for the lovely stories they are writing for us due to how wickedly enjoyable they are to be read! I know I am one of their dedicated readers whose in full appreciation for their style of crafting Contemporary Romances & giving us characters, settings, and series we find wicked addictive whilst blessedly #unputdownable!

Of all the lovelies I spoke about on that particular post and s/o of #booklove + #bookjoy – Carol Ross by far is the one author I’ve happily had the opportunities to read the most frequently! I have strong pulls of the heart for both her collaborative serial (which has a *sequel!* coming Summer, 2020!) Return of the #BlackwellBrothers (a tag you can happily follow in the twitterverse) and for her small towne series Seasons of Alaska – both of which filled my [2019] will hours of bookish joyfulness!

I regularly express gratitude to Prism Book Tours for helping me become introduced with Harlequin Heartwarming and for inspiring me to fetch their stories regularly through inter-library loans at my local library and/or borrowing directly from a reciprocal library which has a few of their authors in their card catalogue! In future, I’ll be ‘filling in gaps’ of my personal library and in my reading queues by frequenting Thrift Books online as I found they are one of the best resources for purchasing these novels second hand which makes collecting them fit my book buying budget!

I spent my 6th Blogoversary on Jorie Loves A Story lamenting about my love for Ms Ross’s Seasons of Alaska series and now that I’ve just celebrated my 7th Blogoversary on Jorie Loves A Story – it is a wonderful New Year of reading Harlequin Heartwarming and championing the authors like Ms Ross who bring my bookish life so much lovely joyful respite into my readerly life! I am thankful I can spend Spring reading more Heartwarming novels and I have a bit of a happy bit of news to reveal about how I’ve booked my first Heartwarming #SatBookChat this Autumn, 2020 as well! Scroll all the way down for the happy news!

Second Chance for the Single Dad
by Carol Ross
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

She’ll save him a dance…
…if he follows his heart.

Dance teacher Camile Wynn has a new student. Reclusive Rhys McGrath is learning to waltz so he can take his orphaned niece to a father-daughter dance. Camile is surprised by her connection with him, but there’s a generous heart behind Rhys’s awkward exterior. When she learns Rhys could lose custody of his niece, Camile goes behind his back to help him…but will her lies end up hurting him instead?

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

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335889621

Also by this author: The Rancher's Twins, Mountains Apart, A Case for Forgiveness, If Not for a Bee, A Family Like Hannah's, Bachelor Remedy, In the Doctor's Arms, Keeping Her Close, Series Spotlight w/ Notes: Return of the Blackwell Brothers, Catching Mr Right, The Secret Santa Project, His Hometown Yuletide Vow

Also in this series: Keeping Her Close

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming

on 3rd March, 2020

Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)

Pages: 377

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

A bit of a note about Rhys McGrath (the lead character)

Although I first suspected Second Chance for the Single Dad was part of Ross’s series Pacific Cove, I couldn’t get a lead-line on this online. The only clue I did uncover is from the novel itself wherein Ms Ross acknowledged she wanted to involve a story about Rhys after having written Keeping Her Close. Thereby, I am uncertain if this is considered ‘the next’ installment of that series or simply a spin-off wherein a character receives their own storyline. Until I finally sorted out this is part of Pacific Cove and I need to update my listing for the series itself – as previously I didn’t get the same information about it! *Whew!* Now I have more books to gather from my favourite online used book shoppe!

Pacific Cove Romance series:

Christmas in the Cove (Book One)

Summer at the Shore (Book Two)

→ Keeping Her Close (Book Three) → *lightbulb!* its the third book! (see also Review)

Second Chance for the Single Dad (Book Four)

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 on Twitter via: #ContemporaryRomance & #HarlequinHeartwarming

This story received my award for Best Contemporary Romance.

About Carol Ross

USA Today bestselling author Carol Ross grew up in small town America right between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains, in a place where you can go deep sea fishing in the morning and then hit the ski slopes the same afternoon. The daughter of what is now known as free range parents, she developed a love of the outdoors at a very early age.

As a writer, Carol loves to breathe the life she has lived into the characters she creates, grateful for the “research material” that every questionable decision, adrenaline-charged misstep, and near-death experience has provided.

Posted Thursday, 9 April, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Contemporary Romance, Family Life, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Life Shift, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Single Fathers, Small Towne Fiction

Author Q&A | in conversation with #LoveINSPIRED Suspense novelist Darlene L. Turner discussing her newest novel “Border Breach”!

Posted Saturday, 4 April, 2020 by jorielov Border Breach, Harlequin Books, HarperCollins Publishers, Love Inspired Suspense (imprint) Harlequin 1 Comment

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might be aware of my *slight!* addiction to reading #LoveINSPIRED Suspense novels?!

I generally gush over this imprint & the authors who pen the stories being published by Love Inspired during the Summer – specifically during *July!* as there is an INSPY readathon I’ve found I love to join which is a celebration of INSPY Lit wherein it is the kind of readathon where you can read at your own pace whilst marking off certain goals which allow you to put your hat into the giveaways which run all month long enabling you to potentially win a few new books by INSPY authors you might not have read as of yet! For me, its a win-win – as I love celebrating INSPY authors and I love reading Love Inspired! (big smiles)

Only a few times as a book blogger I’ve had the proper chance to champion the authors of this imprint by hosting one of their lovely blog tours. One in particular I was able to read & review – which was “No Safe Place” by Sherri Shackelford for Prism Book Tours. Thus, when I saw the “Border Breach” tour was accepting bloggers who wanted to interview the author – I knew I had to sign on as a potential host as next to reading the books, I love being able to interact with the authors directly!

I was happily selected to be a featured stop on the Border Breach blog tour! You might have previously seen an announcement of this new partnership during one of my Sunday Posts wherein I was sharing updates about new blogging and influencer opportunities I am undertaking this New Year, 2020.

Let’s talk moment about why I *love!* Love Inspired Suspense and the kinds of stories and/or series I’ve had the joy of discovering as I read my way through their backlist and frontlist titles! As this has become a bit of a passion project of joy between Mum and I – we love gathering new books by Love Inspired Suspense authors we’ve previously read or are curiously wanting to be reading next – and by ‘new’ books, I’m referring to us giving the books a bit more love themselves as the books are gently used and/or previously loved copies we’ve found via our local used book resources. These books sometimes have their spines damaged but the pages inside are clean and crisp and/or they are lovingly read so many times the pages feel textually touched by the many different readers who’ve found them before us!

Originally, I wanted to find a way for Mum to have a small break on her 12 hours shifts – as she’s in Home Health working with seniors and during the early years of my Dad’s stroke recovery she was working round the clock and on a seven day cycle whilst I was Dad’s caregiver helping him with his needs post-stroke (this was throughout 2017). I knew she loved reading the short novellas and novels from the previous publisher we both enjoyed for INSPY Fiction – which was known as Heartsong Presents – this predates the Love Inspired imprints by Harlequin! Knowing this – I thought maybe she might like a break from reading Contemporary & Historical traditional INSPY narratives and suggested she give Love Inspired Suspense a bit of a go!

The result was smashing as we both found a new imprint to LOVE reading together whilst we were discovering authors like Elizabeth Goddard (Mum’s top favourite), Laura Scott, Susan Sleeman (Mum enjoys her stories a bit more than I do), Lisa Harris, Lenora Worth and several others as we move in and out of their mini-series for Love Inspired Suspense and read their one-offs as well which are not serialised. Each time we find a new story or a new series – we get wicked giddy – wondering if it will be a new beloved author! For a good example – it is the Callahan Confidential series we both gush over the most (writ by Laura Scott) when it comes to getting the chance to tag team reading one of the series!

So you can understand why I was wicked thankful to be selected for this lovely blog tour! I was delighted having the chance to interview one of the authors and I am hoping to find a copy of her novel “Border Breach” at some point in the near future as it would be a delight of joy to read the book after hosting her interview! For now, I hope I’ve tempted you with a bit of curiosity about these Romantic Suspense novelists and their stories which are giving us more wicked good reads as a Mum and daughter reading team!

And, don’t forget this blog book tour is hosting a giveaway if you’re following the tour route!

Border Breach
by Darlene L. Turner

When drugs are smuggled across the border it’s their duty to stop the culprits…at any cost.

Forming a joint task force, Canada border officer Kaylin Poirier and police constable Hudson Steeves have one objective: take down a drug-smuggling ring trying to sell a new lethal product. But when the smugglers come after Kaylin and Hudson, this mission becomes more than just a job. Can they live long enough to solve the case?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Suspense

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335402776

Published by Love INSPIRED

on 1st April, 2020

Available formats: Ebook, Trade Paperback and Large Print

Converse via: #LoveINSPIREDSuspense, #LoveINSPIRED and #Suspense
as well as #INSPYRomance, #RomanticSuspense and #ChristianFiction

Posted Saturday, 4 April, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Contemporary Romance, JustRead Publicity Tours, Reader Submitted Q&A