Jorie Loves A Story, is a blog that was inspired into creation due to a reader's love and passion for the written word. She reads bookish industry newsfeeds, keeps a pertinent eye on newly published authors, is readily eager to book travel to independent book shoppes, athenaeum libraries, historical landmarks of literary interest, and book festivals, conventions, or symposiums; absorbs herself into the written word, cherishing each book she comes across that has the ability to transport herself into another time, place, and world. This is her journey, as she uncovers one book at a time that leaves her musefully happy for the discovery.

Read my Introduction Post, to see where I am hoping to take Jorie Loves A Story. To help celebrate the launch of my blog, read my Launch Day post! Read how the Story of Jorie Loves A Story was knit together!

Visit my Guest Features, Interviews & Podcast Archive and learn about my style of betareading. Curious about my approach to reviewing books? Read my thoughts! *Hint!* it's hugged into my reaction of my first Gaiman essay! To gain perspective about how my readerly life changed a bit after my father's stroke, kindly read #StoriesOfJorie - specifically November 2016 + January 2017.

AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS,
&/or LITERARY | PUBLICITY AGENTS:

At this point in time, I am selectively seeking referrals for books to review or contributing content for the blog. I will consider accepting *print and/or audiobooks* in exchange for an honest review on a case-by-case basis. I'd encourage you to take a look at my Bookish Events Calendar for 2019 before conferring with me about your request. My blog is actively booked throughout the year - sometimes up to 90 days in advance. I do work on tight deadlines outside this window, however, this will give you an impression of what is already scheduled.

I do encourage you to contact me, if after reading through my Review Policy, you feel that your book and my style of reviewing would be a good match. I discuss the books I gravitate towards and the ones I will not read. The reason I am highly selective in regards to referrals, is simply because I am sharing my reading life with those of whom enjoy reading: Jorie Loves A Story. I may seek out books to review on my own accord, which interest me, and I would welcome the chance to get to know!

IF you are still interested in contacting me, please view "My Bookish Life", to know a bit more about me before you read my Review Policy. My blog Disclosure is contained mid-way down under My Review Policy as well as seen in the sidebar of my individual posts. I do cross-post my reviews to LibraryThing as well as share my reviews socially through Twitter.

NOTE: Please enquiry through my Review Request Form. For General Correspondence: Contact Jorie. Thank you!

I reserve the right to moderate all comments posted to my blog for content. I will not approve any commentary that is obscene, discriminative, or of ill-taste. I will also monitor links that are shared within comments. I will not tolerate spam or adverting commentary. Likewise, I always seek permission to use contributing materials on my blog (such as but not limited to): blog badges, reading or book challenge &/or readathon/along badges, promotional materials for books & authors (i.e. Press Kit / Media Materials), blog resources (ie: dividers, banners, blinkies, icons, etc), either through the website in which they originated &/or directly by their creators; through the blog touring companies, publicists and publishers I work with or individual authors.

I disclose information about the books I receive in exchange for honest reviews to be in compliance with the FTC, but also for due diligence in informing my regular readers & visitors alike on where I obtained the books I am blogging about so that they are aware of where the materials originated.

To summarize: This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. Except for when I permit Guest Contributing Posts (i.e. by re-occurring special guest contributors (Bairbre & Christine) or by authors, editors, and others I select to feature.

This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.

The owner & contributors of this blog will never receive monetary compensation in any way from this blog.

The owner of this blog is not compensated (she receives complimentary copies of books to review) to provide opinion on books she chooses to accept for review. Nor does the owner of this blog receive compensation to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog does not receive compensation (but does receive complimentary copies of a book for review purposes), she always gives her honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or books. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content will always be identified.

Read my full Disclosure Policy | DisclosurePolicy.org

NOTE: Jorie Loves A Story (jorielovesastory.com) is FREE of the following: CAPTCHA (for comments), adverts, buy-links and giveaways.

The only exception being are the two referral links I provide: one is for Riffle (via #WWWeds) and the other is for DropBox (via my BetaReading Page). I was not obliged to refer to either site, as I personally wanted to share the joy of them with my readers. They are only shared on those posts I've mentioned and not throughout my site.

I do encourage social reading via the book links I include on my book reviews and showcases which route to Riffle. (my social reading site of choice) I'm a Library Advocate which is why I include a link routed to WorldCat the world's largest library catalogue where readers can find books world-wide which they can borrow from their local libraries if available to do so. I do share other links which I believe will benefit my readers and visitors; I do not receive anything in return for providing them.

Information, images, book excerpts, guest post essays and materials (including Press Kit Materials) disclosed on this blog may or may not be subject to copyright. Attention has been placed to ensure at all instances not to breach copyright, trademark or restriction, whilst gaining permission to use information, images, and materials which are featured on this site. Those permissions were granted to me via publishers, publicists and authors directly and do not transfer to visitors of jorielovesastory.com.

I always strive to give proper attribution and credit to all non-original content not writ or created by myself on my blog. If I have erred in this regard, please contact me to remedy the situation, so that I can correctly attribute &/or source what is not yet reflected; or remove it completely.

I do feature my own original photography which is marked '© jorielovesastory.com' for easy recognition and attribution. I create my own digital art, collages, badges, banners, etc through Canva, PicMonkey, and FotoFlexer which I attribute behind the creation itself; whilst marking it down in the Sources section per post it is used.

When I am not using my own photography, I am using the Public Domain photo repository available via Unsplash; wherein photographers have given permission for their images to be used without attribution with the freedom to use the images by those who seek them. (Read Unsplash Usage Policy; explaining the photos are released under Creative Commons Zero) Some of these images are available now through Canva; other images and/or graphics via Canva are available to use for free if they are marked as such on Canva.com.

If visitors to this blog leave commentary or if I use embedded media &/or material content (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo, Scribd, SoundCloud, etc) I am not responsible for copyright ownership of materials posted within their comments &/or within the embedded content. Content such as this was possible due to the embed codes to share the content directly. This blog is not responsible for images and materials posted in comments &/or within embedded content which might infringe on copyright law.

All information, images and materials seen on Jorie Loves A Story are not to be reproduced, transmitted, or republished without permission. Likewise I am not responsible for what is expressed or shared within the comments left behind by visitor or subscriber. It is wise to consider what you want to share before you leave your commentary; discretion is advised.

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Blog Book Tour | feat. Empire State series by Elizabeth Camden, especially “A Dangerous Legacy” (book one, audiobook), “A Daring Venture” (book two, audiobook) and “A Desperate Hope” (book three)

Posted Friday, 1 March, 2019 by jorielov (Narrator) Morgan Hallett, (Narrator) Rachel Botchan, A Dangerous Legacy, A Daring Venture, A Desperate Hope, Baker Publishing Group, Bethany House Publishers, Elizabeth Camden, Jammer Audio, Recorded Books 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I 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 “A Desperate Hope” direct from the publisher Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. The Digital Audiobook copy of “A Dangerous Legacy” and “A Daring Venture” were available via my Scribd subscription. My ruminations on behalf of the audiobooks (books one and two) are being shared for my own edification and to help introduce my readers to the series overall whilst sharing my own journey in its discovery. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

How my love of INSPY reads inspired my choice to participate on this blog tour:

When I first started blogging, I was going to set out to read new authors of INSPY Lit I hadn’t had the pleasure of reading previously. It was through my visitations with Casey Herringshaw’s blog which inspired the list I had developed of seeking out new and established INSPY authors who were drawing the eye of book bloggers like Ms Herringshaw and readers alike. It was through reading her blog rather extensively I found the list which was then developed in the final #70AuthorsChallenge.

Elizabeth Camden happens to be the 67th author out of my original #70AuthorsChallenge List.

Curiously, like most book bloggers our good intentions when we first start joining the exciting world of the book blogosphere and the bookish side of Twitter, our personal reading goals can sometime be cast aside. This is why I haven’t made an extensive dent in my readerly goals for my INSPY Reads and why I am intending to make more head-way on them this year as I feel it will be a healthier year for me all the way round. The past few years especially were marred a bit with personal health afflictions but this year, as I move into March, I feel more hopeful I might have sorted out a way to ease the frequencies of my chronic migraines and by doing so, perhaps for the first time since I started my blog I’ll have a greater freedom in being able to read whenever the mood strikes rather than having to wait out the after effects of a migraine.

I wasn’t sure where to begin reading Ms Camden’s novels – as part of the list of choices I originally had made from Ms Herringshaw’s blog went lost before I could upload those titles to my list here on my blog. (*le sigh*) However, there are a few I’ve noticed are currently available to be listened to via audiobook on Scribd – of those, these are the ones I’d like to explore next: Against the Tide and The Rose of Winslow Street.

My love of reading INSPY Lit extends back to childhood – as I’ve been a hybrid reader of both mainstream and INSPY Lit since the origins of when I first became a reader. Finding several blog tours this year focusing on these authors and their stories was a treat of bookish joy as I dearly want to expand my knowledge of the stories being published from both Major Trade and Indie Publishers within the INSPY realms of interest I enjoy reading. This particular blog tour felt like a step in the right direction.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Posted Friday, 1 March, 2019 by jorielov in 19th Century, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host & Reviewer, Family Drama, Family Life, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, INSPY Realistic Fiction | Non-Fiction, Life Shift, Mental Health, Prism Book Tours, Psychiatric Facilities, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Scribd, Siblings, the Gilded Age

#SaturdaysAreBookish | Book Review featuring @SatBookChat’s 17th November Guest Author | “Stay” by Jennifer Silverwood part of my #Mythothon readings!

Posted Saturday, 17 November, 2018 by jorielov Jennifer Silverwood, Self Published, Stay 2 Comments

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

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

After a difficult year for [personal health & wellness] this 2018, I am beginning anew this Autumn – selecting the stories to resume where I left off featuring the Romance & Women’s Fiction authors I am discovering to read whilst highlighting a story by the author I am chatting with during #SatBookChat. Every Saturday will feature a different author who writes either Romance or Women’s Fiction – for the remaining weeks of October and most of November, I will be featuring special guest authors during #SatBookChat whose stories I have either read, are reading or hope to read in the future if their newer releases. The reviews on Saturdays might inspire the topics in the forthcoming chats or they might be directly connected to the current guest author.

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

Acquired Book By:

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

This particular review is slightly different from my regular blog tours and hosting features for Prism Book Tours – as an opportunity came along this Autumn to secure a spot on a ‘review tour’ rather than a ‘blog tour’ for the debut novel by Jennifer Silverwood entitled: Stay. Although she’s published different series and stories after this publication from 2013, I welcomed the chance to get to know her writing style from the moment it began being published. This differs as each of the reviewers and book bloggers who are committing to this review tour are posting at different intervals before the final deadline for the review tour concludes. In my case, this also included being able to anchour this review with my @SatBookChat showcase for the novel and the book discussion which came out of it.

I received a complimentary copy of “Stay” by the author Jennifer Silverwood in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I originally was keen on the writing styling of Ms Silverwood:

When I first discovered Silver Hollow, it was the genre-bending styling of the author which implored me the most to read the story. At the time, Silver Hollow was being re-released and the only version currently available back then in print was the older version. Sadly, despite my efforts to secure that copy by inter-library loan had failed. It still remains a story I want to read one day, however, what was interesting about moving inside Stay was finding the natural nuanced styling of a writer who takes cues straight out of the Mythological past!

As I hinted at during @SatBookChat today, there are moments within reading Stay where I could almost feel the presence of Poseidon and Zeus; except, I wasn’t naming them in my mind. There are enough elements of connection within the story itself to draw you closer towards naming them outright but it was the illusion of connection to these two which I appreciated even more because it deepened the suspense and the mythological proportions! If it could be them, what if it wasn’t? What if there are others out there who can behave and manipulate the elements just as cheekily and get away with it?

This bridge between the fantastical and the mythological is what made me keenly curious about Silverwood’s writing style. I wanted to see how she used the bridge itself, as generally speaking I do have a penchant for Urban Fantasy nowadays but each writer I read within that branch of literature has their own unique spin on how to make ‘modern’ settings warmly conducive to Fantasy realms.

Finding myself dearly enchanted by how she brokered a story out of the roots of Greek Mythos is only the tip of the iceberg I feel I shall be finding within her collective works! The joy of reading Stay and discussing it was finding out the sequel is arriving in 2019!

On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for awhile afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writely lives! We decided to stay in touch and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.

Stay
by Jennifer Silverwood
Source: Direct from Author

Rona believes love is nothing more than a myth, a tale for little girls.

Until the immortal ruler of the seas appears from thin air and she is swept into a dark and dangerous affair, turning myth into a grave reality. Commanded to work as the savior of true love, Rona realises that love is just an illusion as grandoise as magic and after two thousand years, she is ready to give up. Until the night a human, deep in the underbelly f the city that never sleeps sees her. She recognises him instantly, a lost love. Trouble is, he has no memory of her. Tasked with mending a relationship between the love she lost thousands of years ago and another woman, Rona will have to learn what it means to be human all over agai when past and present collide.

Can love transcend time or will Rona be forced to roam earth alone, forever?

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1484116890

Also by this author: Author Interview: Jennifer Silverwood (Silver Hollow), Book Spotlight: Borderlands Saga, Silver Hollow

Genres: Greek Mythos | Legacies, Nautical Fiction, Paranormal Romance (PNR), Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Urban Fantasy

Published by Self Published Author

on 3rd June, 2013

Format: POD | Print On Demand Paperback

Pages: 214

Converse via: #PNR, #ParanormalRomance + #Mythos, #Mythology & #UrbanFantasy

as well as #WomensFic or #WomensFiction

About Jennifer Silverwood

Jennifer Silverwood was raised deep in the heart of Texas and has been spinning yarns a mile high since childhood. In her spare time she reads and writes and tries to sustain her wanderlust, whether it’s the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, the highlands of Ecuador or a road trip to the next town. Always on the lookout for her next adventure, in print or reality, she dreams of one day proving to the masses that everything really is better in Texas. She is the author of two series—Heaven's Edge and Wylder Tales—and the stand-alone titles Stay and Silver Hollow.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

#Mythothon 2018

Posted Saturday, 17 November, 2018 by jorielov in #SaturdaysAreBookish, 21st Century, After the Canon, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host & Reviewer, Book Trailer, Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Contemporary Romance, Content Note, Dark Fantasy, Debut Novel, Earthen Magic, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Fly in the Ointment, Folklore and Mythology, Gods & Goddesses, Greek Mythology, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Indie Author, Modern Day, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Mythological Societies, Nautical Fiction, Parapsychological Suspense, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Self-Published Author, Spin-Off Authors, Supernatural Fiction, Urban Fantasy

#Sponsored by FaithWords (Publisher) | #SaturdaysAreBookish Book Review | “Fatal Mistake” (Book One: White Knights series) by Susan Sleeman

Posted Saturday, 20 October, 2018 by jorielov FaithWords, Fatal Mistake, Hachette Book Group Inc., Susan Sleeman, White Knights series 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a reviewer for Hachette Books and their imprints, starting with FaithWords which is their INSPY (Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction) imprint of releases focusing on uplifting and spiritual stories which are a delight to read whilst engaging your mind in life affirming and heart-centered stories. I found Hachette via Edelweiss at the conclusion of [2015] and have been wicked happy I can review for their imprints FaithWords & Center Street.

This book review was sponsored by Hachette Books who provided me with a complimentary copy of the book “Fatal Mistake” direct from their imprint FaithWords (an imprint of Hachette Book Group Inc.) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

NOTE: All my posts and/or reviews since May 2018 I am featuring on behalf of Hachette Books now states this is ‘sponsored’ by the publisher. Kindly refer to my Review Policy where I disclosed the reasons why this new language of disclosure is being added to [jorielovesastory.com].

When it comes to Romantic Suspense, I find myself pulled in by the writers who truly know how to knit out a story rooted fully into the Suspenseful arc but hug us close to the romantic overtures which might have to wait til there is a resolution.

This was especially true in July as I read stories by Laura Scott and Lenora Worth – two authors I championed as writers part of the #LoveINSPIRED Suspense imprint of Harlequin. Elizabeth Goddard is a favourite of my Mum’s I still intend to read before the close of the year and with this particular novel by Susan Sleeman I am starting to find out how much I am enjoying her approach to Suspense and Thrillers; even though I have a few of her Love Inspired Suspense novels which are also waiting my eager eyes to be read!

Rom Suspense for me works best when we are fully encased in the thrilling realities of the characters – of what went wrong and what led them to needing support of the law to help them overcome the situation(s) which have placed their lives in danger. I prefer to read the stories which are writ rather clean and despite having a heavy psychological suspenseful edge to them are not the kind of stories which would lead into having nightmares afterwards! I want to read the stories which at some point have an upturnt in how the resolution resolves in such a way as to make you feel uplifted rather than soul crushed!

I was hoping for the same kind of experience as I move through the White Knights series – the only thing which surprised me is when I visited Ms Sleeman’s website, the way it was eluding too about this particular series is that this is strictly a duology – rather than a full-on series?! I’m unsure how the whole series can evolve and resolve through two installments as more than the first half of Fatal Mistake felt like such a well-conceived world to be inclusive of ‘more stories’ than just the two – however, sometimes I know series are either cancelled or are strictly set as duologies. This one just felt ‘larger than’ the space it appears to occupy and I am curious if it really is a two book series or if there could be more installments lateron for the White Knights?

Notation about the Cover Design: I personally love the cover art for the trade paperback edition vs the audiobook edition of this novel. As for me, I felt the characters were better captured on the paperback than on the audiobook. I am sure others might differ in their opinions but I felt the audiobook showed Cal Riggins quite a bit too rough and ready – whereas he really is a highly trained agent, there is also a softness to him – where he’s not all brawn! I felt the balance was better on the paperback for showing his likeness and how I found him to be within the print edition.

Fatal Mistake
by Susan Sleeman
Source: Direct from Publisher

An FBI agent must protect the woman who can identify a terrorist bomber in bestselling author Susan Sleeman's riveting romantic suspense novel.

Each day could be her last...but not if he can help it.

Tara Parrish is the only person ever to survive an attack by the Lone Wolf bomber. Scared and emotionally scarred by her near death, she goes into hiding with only one plan--to stay alive for another day. She knows he's coming after her, and if he finds her, he will finish what he started.

Agent Cal Riggins has had only one goal for the past six months--to save lives by ending the Lone Wolf's bombing spree. To succeed, he needs the help of Tara Parrish, the one person who can lead them to the bomber. Cal puts his all into finding Tara, but once he locates her, he realizes if he can find her, the Lone Wolf can, too. He must protect Tara at all costs, and they'll both need to resist the mutual attraction growing between them to focus on hunting down the bomber, because one wrong move could be fatal.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781455596461

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

Published by FaithWords

on 9th May, 2017

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 400

Published by: FaithWords (@FaithWords)

Available Formats: Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #RomSusp, #SusanSleeman, #Contemporary #Romance

About Susan Sleeman

SUSAN SLEEMAN is a bestselling and award-winning author of inspirational and clean read romantic suspense books. In addition to writing, Susan also hosts the popular website TheSuspenseZone.com. Susan currently lives in Oregon, but has had the pleasure of living in nine states. Her husband is a retired church music director and they have two beautiful daughters, a very special son-in-law and an adorable grandson.