Tag: Aria Fiction

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “Home to the Hills” by Dee Yates

Posted Friday, 27 March, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Books in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am wicked delighted to be featuring a lovely #newtomeauthor today – as I recently had the chance to select quite a few Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction novelists to be spotlighting throughout the Spring months this year – wherein I was rather delighted finding so many keenly interesting stories to start seeking out to read! These are stories which dance between Romance & Women’s Fiction – from Contemporary to Historical settings. Being an avid reader of these genres I couldn’t miss the chance to bring the JOY of discovering these lovely authors to my readers of Jorie Loves A Story!

It is my intention to start requesting these novels via my local library if they are not available in audio formats via Scribd. At the moment my library is experiencing an unprecedented sabbatical on requests which put me in a bit of a pickle as I’m an active patron whose constantly requesting purchases every month – which is why I’m simply saving my queue lists and will turn them in once the services resume. For now at least – I can champion the discoveries and the joy of finding the stories whilst hosting the blog tours!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract
for “Home to the Hills”:

As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!

I have had a penchant of interest regarding war dramas for quite a long while now – however, my interest in reading them has altered slightly from the kinds I used to read in the past. I have been purposely trying to seek out stories about the homefront and/or stories set round a particular set of circumstances a character must overcome rather than strictly seeking out war dramas which are focusing more on the battle of the war itself. I felt for awhile I needed to re-address how I wanted to read war dramas as a lot of the time, whenever I would try to tuck into a traditional war drama – I would start to notice myself pulling out of the context of the setting as I felt I had finally reached the apex of no return.

Being that I still *love!* reading stories set during the war era, I’ve happily re-affirmed this love of fiction by re-finding stories which are an joy to be read. This is how I came to find Home to the Hills which I felt had a very inspiring premise in which I could enjoy getting invested into reading. Especially as this novel is set just after the war ended – of how people had to pick up their lives, forge ahead and find a way to re-define how they were going to live now that peacetime had become restored. You can feel the intensity of their choices – how determined they were to survive in this new environment but also, how heartwarming it would be to realise that they had to begin anew – without knowing what the future would yield.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Did I grab your eye and attention?

Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “Home to the Hills” by Dee YatesHome to the Hills
Subtitle: After the war, they must start afresh
by Dee Yates

1945.

After the Second World War, Ellen and her daughter Netta make the journey from Germany back to Scotland. Nestled in the hills of the Southern Uplands is the farm where Ellen grew up – the home she left to be with the only man she's ever loved. She is still haunted by her memories... and the secrets she dare not share with anyone.

Having grown up in Freiburg, farm life is new and exciting to Netta. Determined to be useful, she offers to help new shepherd, Andrew Cameron. But doing so might put her bruised heart at risk... The war took so much from Ellen and Netta. But maybe now the sanctuary of the hills can offer them the hope of a new beginning.

A heartwrenching Scottish saga, perfect for fans of Sheila Jeffries and Katie Flynn.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War Drama, Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B0844S8B64

Published by Aria Fiction

on 19th March, 2020

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

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: This is a Digital First Release

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Posted Friday, 27 March, 2020 by jorielov in Aftermath of World War II, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Head of Zeus, Historical Fiction, War Drama, Women's Fiction

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “Starting Over at Acorn Cottage” by Kate Forster

Posted Saturday, 21 March, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Books in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am wicked delighted to be featuring a lovely #newtomeauthor today – as I recently had the chance to select quite a few Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction novelists to be spotlighting throughout the Spring months this year – wherein I was rather delighted finding so many keenly interesting stories to start seeking out to read! These are stories which dance between Romance & Women’s Fiction – from Contemporary to Historical settings. Being an avid reader of these genres I couldn’t miss the chance to bring the JOY of discovering these lovely authors to my readers of Jorie Loves A Story!

It is my intention to start requesting these novels via my local library if they are not available in audio formats via Scribd. At the moment my library is experiencing an unprecedented sabbatical on requests which put me in a bit of a pickle as I’m an active patron whose constantly requesting purchases every month – which is why I’m simply saving my queue lists and will turn them in once the services resume. For now at least – I can champion the discoveries and the joy of finding the stories whilst hosting the blog tours!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract
for “Starting Over at Acorn Cottage”:

As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!

I *definitely!* feel drawn to plots which evolve through a lens of ‘new beginnings and second chances’ – there is a lot of hope inside those kinds of stories. Especially of how characters are striving to seek a different way of life and/or want to find a way to restart their path somewhere else. Having had the joys of living in different environments throughout my life – knowing the excitement of a high paced city and the slower pacing of a country setting – I can attest there is a bit of unexpected reprieve in being able to find yourself ‘elsewhere’ than where you might expect to find happiness. As both settings provide their own joys but its the loveliness of exchanging one for the other where you can discover the most about yourself.

*laughs!* I also have a soft spot for stories which remind me of “Under the Tuscan Sun” – where there is this seemingly *large!* reno project that is going to take half of forever to resolve and as you’re watching the character go through those hours & moments, life has resumed for them in uniquely different ways. It is the ending of that film (which yes, I realise was a book as well but I never read it) which has the best capstone of the story – how even when you think you’re life hasn’t resolved in a way you had projected or hoped – things have a way of being brought into your life in a way which renews your faith in serendipity. Which is the best way I can describe the ending without having it spoilt for someone who hasn’t yet seen it!

Reading the premise of this novel feels like a cuppa of comfort – just to tuck close to Clara and observe how she’s going to react to all the unexpected joys awaiting her as she undertakes the renovation of the cottage which of course most likely will serve as a renovation of her life!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Did I grab your eye and attention?

Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “Starting Over at Acorn Cottage” by Kate ForsterStarting Over At Acorn Cottage
by Kate Forster

Buying a thatched cottage in the country may not be the usual cure for a broken heart. But after Clara Maxwell finds out her boyfriend and best friend have been sneaking around behind her back, packing her bags and leaving everything in London behind feels like it's the only way forward.

Clara knew Acorn Cottage would be a fixer-upper... Yet in person, the cottage is less charmingly ramshackle and more a real health and safety concern. When Henry Garnett, her (rather handsome) new contractor, turns up with his little daughter Pansy and a van shaped like a cottage in tow, she isn't sure whether to laugh or cry. What on earth has she gotten herself into?!

Still, there is something strangely lovable about the people in the little village of Merryknowe, from Rachel Brown, the quiet, lonely girl who bakes magical confections for the tearooms, to Tassie McIver, a little old lady with a lot of wisdom and a penchant for reading tea leaves. And Clara can't deny that Henry and Pansy are quickly worming their way into her heart...

With all the heartbreak of the year behind her, could Acorn Cottage be the fresh start Clara so desperately wants?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B083NZMXH3

Also by this author: Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace

Published by Aria Fiction

on 19th March, 2020

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

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: This is a Digital First Release

Converse via: #StartingOverAtAcornCottage, #Contemporary #WomensFictionFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Read More

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Posted Saturday, 21 March, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Head of Zeus, Women's Fiction

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “A Mother’s Secret” by Minna Howard

Posted Friday, 13 March, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Books in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I am wicked delighted to be featuring a lovely #newtomeauthor today – as I recently had the chance to select quite a few Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction novelists to be spotlighting throughout the Spring months this year – wherein I was rather delighted finding so many keenly interesting stories to start seeking out to read! These are stories which dance between Romance & Women’s Fiction – from Contemporary to Historical settings. Being an avid reader of these genres I couldn’t miss the chance to bring the JOY of discovering these lovely authors to my readers of Jorie Loves A Story!

It is my intention to start requesting these novels via my local library if they are not available in audio formats via Scribd. At the moment my library is experiencing an unprecedented sabbatical on requests which put me in a bit of a pickle as I’m an active patron whose constantly requesting purchases every month – which is why I’m simply saving my queue lists and will turn them in once the services resume. For now at least – I can champion the discoveries and the joy of finding the stories whilst hosting the blog tours!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Why I wanted to host a spotlight & extract for “A Mother’s Secret”:

As the founder and host of @SatBookChat – I am constantly seeking to find new stories featuring strong women in the centre of Romance & Women’s Fiction. I read an equal amount of Contemporary and Historical stories within these genres of interest whilst encompassing all the lovely sub-niches of their literary styles as well. This New Year 2020 I am also seeking out Feminist Lit which celebrates the kind of stories I am enjoying to discover as well. All of which I try to champion and showcase in the chats I host on Saturdays – wherein writers, readers, book reviewers, book bloggers and the rest of the bookish community on Twitter get to engage with one another. Thereby as a regular reader of these stories I was delighted to find a #newtomeauthor to start seeking out to read!

I love finding unconventional family plots in Contemporary Women’s Fiction – where you alight in a person’s life whose believed their life to have had this set trajectory and path to follow and then *something!* gives them a bit of a right turn and *everything!* just switches out from under their feet from that moment forward. When I first read the plot of “A Mother’s Secret” this felt like the kind of novel where you are going to be at odds with yourself about whom you’re going to rally behind and where your own opinions will settle as you read through the storyline.

Stories about identity and parental origins are some of the trickier ones to read and I would imagine to write because you want to see a believable case for the plot to organically fall together in the narrative. Whilst at the same time – there is drama there – threading behind the revelations of the unknowns and a pot boiler of emotions, too. How will the ‘other side’ of the reveal react to the announcement and what will that mean for the everyday life and world of all the characters!?

This is what was going through my mind as I contemplated the story and it is why I am truly itching to read “A Mother’s Secret” to see how Ms Howard pulled the threads of her story together and had us volleying between two different perspectives: Verity’s and Saskia’s!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Did I grab your eye and attention?

Sound like the kind of bookish read you’ve been needing?

Be sure to brew your favourite cuppa and enjoy this extract from the novel.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Book Spotlight | Featuring notes by Jorie and an extract from “A Mother’s Secret” by Minna HowardA Mother's Secret
by Minna Howard

Verity seems to have it all. A beautiful home, two grown-up sons and a husband who has always been her rock. But one day, the doorbell rings. And it changes Verity's life forever.

Saskia has nowhere else to go. Before she died, her mother left her with her father's name and nothing else. The only way for Saskia to take care of herself – and her unborn baby – is to find the father she never knew. And the family that didn't know she existed.

This family secret means the end of everything they've ever known. But could it also be the chance for a new beginning?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ASIN: B07ZWKTQ56

Published by Aria Fiction

on 5th March, 2020

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

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: This is a Digital First Release

Converse via: #AMothersSecret, #Contemporary #WomensFictionFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Read More

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Posted Friday, 13 March, 2020 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Head of Zeus, Women's Fiction

Book Spotlight w/ Notes | “Snowflakes Over Holly Cove” by Lucy Coleman (an early #blogmas post!)

Posted Wednesday, 12 September, 2018 by jorielov , , , 3 Comments

Stories in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Even though it is ONLY *September!* – this is one year where #ChristmasRoms are already starting to tug at my heart! Similar to last year, where I was starting to find out about a lot of lovely #newbooks arriving for the hols but without a way to purchase them (this year, I’m submitting quite a lot of lovelies to my local library – whose been rather gracious with me accepting more than they’ve turnt down!) – which is why I was featuring a series of Spotlights and/or Book Announcements whilst interconnecting Q&As into those threads from last Autumn & Early Winter!!

This year, I’m continuing the tradition – with one small upgrade – due to my participation in #blogging4books – a lovely new group for bookblogger support – I learnt about #blogmas! I believe it generally takes place during *December!* – where you spend 31 days sharing Christmassy posts spilt between the festive season in [general] and the Christmas stories your either reading [that year] or have enjoyed discovering. Sometimes it’s even topical based or you can feature interviews, etc – the rules (haven’t yet been found) appear to be a bit up in the air in regards to each individual blogger! Happily, as this is my first spotlight for a Christmas story – I am starting a wee bit early! Even though, technically my *first!* Christmas book review will be going LIVE in *November!* this year!!

I truly never tire of Christmas stories – Contemporary, Historical, a cross-genre selection – whether in fiction and/or tv/film, there is something uniquely pulling about the context of a Christmas story for me! I am appreciating my journey into discovering #newtomeauthors how are writing these kinds of selections and I hope, as the years move forward, I will not just be spotlighting the titles I wish to be #amreading *but!* I will start to have opportunities to either a) start collecting the paperbacks b) continue to make purchase requests at my local library c) borrow these lovelies through ILL’ing (inter-library loan) or d) happily await the audiobook releases (if they go into that format!).

Curiously, which routes of exploration do you take to curl into a #ChristmasRomance and/or a #HolidayRom!? Which authors are your #mustread favourites and which styles of Christmas/hols stories are your absolute favourites to continuously seek out?! Full novels? Novellas? Shorts? Anthologies? Which genres? New or Classic or a Mixture? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Let’s peer into this latest release by an author I am most eager to start reading – I have an extract to share with you which is why you might want to brew yourself a cuppa of your favourite tea or java selection before returning in for the ‘read’!! Happy (early) Christmas!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Book Spotlight w/ Notes | “Snowflakes Over Holly Cove” by Lucy Coleman (an early #blogmas post!)Snowflakes Over Holly Cove
Subtitle: This Christmas, there's happiness sparkling on the sea air...
by Linn B. Halton, Ms Linn B. Halton

As the snowflakes start to fall, Holly Cove welcomes a new tenant to the beautiful old cottage on the beach...

For lifestyle magazine journalist Tia Armstrong, relationships, as well as Christmas, have lost all their magic. Yet Tia is up against a Christmas deadline for her latest article 'Love is, actually, all around...'

So, Tia heads to Holly Cove where the restorative sea air and rugged stranger, Nic, slowly but surely start mending her broken heart.

Tia didn't expect a white Christmas, and she certainly never dared dream that all her Christmas wishes might just come true...

Set in Caswell Bay on the stunningly rugged Gower Coast, the cottage nestles amid the limestone cliffs and the woodlands; the emotions run as turbulently as the wind-swept sea.

As cosy as a marshmallow-topped cup of cocoa, fall in love with a heart-warming festive story from the bestselling author of The French Adventure.

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



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1788541558

Also by this author: Christmas at Bay Tree Cottage, Coming Home to Penvennan Cove

on 18th September, 2018

Published by: Aria Fiction (@Aria_Fiction)

an imprint of Head of Zeus

Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #HolidayRomance + #ChristmasRomance & #Contemporary #Romance

About Lucy Coleman

Lucy Coleman

From interior designer to author, Linn B. Halton - who also writes under the pen name of Lucy Coleman - says ‘it’s been a fantastic journey!’

Linn is the bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and is excited to be writing for both Aria Fiction (Head of Zeus) and Harper Impulse (Harper Collins); she’s represented by Sara Keane of the Keane Kataria Literary Agency.

When she’s not writing, or spending time with the family, she’s either upcycling furniture or working in the garden.

Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award; her novels have been short-listed in the UK's Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards.

Living in Coed Duon in the Welsh Valleys with her ‘rock’, Lawrence, and gorgeous Bengal cat Ziggy, she freely admits she’s an eternal romantic.

Linn is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and writes feel-good, uplifting novels about life, love and relationships.

All the author links below equal the links I've previously shared for Ms Halton with the exception of her Twitter feeds, Amazon page, GoodReads page & LibraryThing page which are exclusively for her pen name.

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Posted Wednesday, 12 September, 2018 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Brook Cottage Book Tours