Tag: Jina Bacarr

A very special #blogmas Christmas Eve with a time travelling war drama #ChristmasReads selection by Jorie | “Christmas Once Again” by Jina Bacarr

Posted Tuesday, 24 December, 2019 by jorielov , , 2 Comments

#blogmas 2019 badge created by Jorie in Canva.

Borrowed Book By: I came to find out about this Historical Time Travelling Christmas war drama through my interactions with Historical Fiction novelists via #HistFicChat as hosted by Vivan Conroy. Ms Bacarr happened to have been one of the guests during the chat and I became dearly fascinated by the premise of the story! Afterwards I made a note to see if I could put in a request for the novel in print and/or audiobook – I submitted a print request to my local library and a digital audiobook request to my regionally local library – of the two I happily received the news the local library was able to acquire a print copy allowing me to read this during #blogmas. Unfortunately, the regional library was unable to acquire the digital audiobook. The print copy similar to the other book requests I submit was for the finished version of the novel any reader could purchase themselves; not a library specific copy or edition.

Therefore I borrowed a print copy of “Christmas Once Again” from my local library and I was not obligated to post a review and are sharing my ruminations with my readers for my own edification as well as happily sharing my bookish life with my readers and visitors alike. The Press Materials however were provided by the author and are used with permission at my request to be used on this review once I decided to write one as well as for being featured on the book spotlight I posted ahead of her guest appearance on @SatBookChat.

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On how I came to find this author:

It was all because of #HistFicChat — there are moments on Twitter which randomly give me a lot of bookishly geeky happiness, such as interacting with authors in chats! It isn’t just the authors I invite into my own chat @SatBookChat but the authors I happily engage with in other chats, like #HistFicChat and others like it. Over the years, some of the chats have closed down, others went on an unexpected hiatus like Ms McCabe’s #HistoricalFix and others, I might have wandered away too long to return (ie. #LitChat). Still what is joyful about the experience of engaging with the bookish within book world through this medium is that there is generally a new chat popping up and arriving into my feeds; giving me a new and refreshed chance to interact with #newtomeauthors such as Ms Bacarr!

When I learnt of the release for Christmas Once Again I knew I wanted to see if my local library could purchase it in time to read by Christmas! What I hadn’t expected was reading it in the golden hours of having it a bit too long due to my father’s medical crisis & my Winter cold which took me offline for a week and afflicted me with a bit of amnesia when it came to my library account! I completely lost track of ‘where’ I was with my borrows both for print and audio – so I quickly made amends to get this novel & Ms Royce’s novel back to the library for the next borrowers in queue to read them before Christmas!

I also had the pleasure of hosting Jina Bacarr during one of my 2019 @SatBookChat‘s! The archived conversations are available to be seen in @SatBookChat’s Moments.

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Notation about Cover Art: Ever since I first saw the cover art for ‘Christmas Once Again’ I have been struck by the look on the woman’s face, the placement of the train in the background behind her and the airplane flying over her right shoulder. Every detail in the cover art seemed to be pointedly aimed towards having us understand the story and the setting in which it takes place – I love when cover art matches the story like this and the choices in bold colours truly were the right call!

A very special #blogmas Christmas Eve with a time travelling war drama #ChristmasReads selection by Jorie | “Christmas Once Again” by Jina BacarrChristmas Once Again
by Jina Bacarr
Source: Borrowed from local library, Purchase REQ | local library

All she wants for Christmas is to save the man she loves…

On a cold December day in 1955, Kate Arden got on a train to go home for Christmas.

This is the story of what happened when she got off that train. In 1943.

In 1943 Kate Arden was engaged to the man she loved, Jeffrey Rushbrooke. She was devastated and heartbroken when he was called up for wartime duty and later killed on a secret mission in France.

But what if Kate could change that? What if she could warn him and save his life before Christmas?
Or will fate have a bigger surprise in store for her?

Christmas Once Again is a sweeping, heartbreakingly romantic novel - it's one woman's chance to follow a different path and mend her broken heart...

Genres: Christmas Story &/or Christmas Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Time Travel Fiction, War Drama



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781838893668

Also by this author: Author Interview with extract with Jina Bacarr

Published by Boldwood Books

on 10th October, 2019

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 300

Published by: Boldwood Books (@BoldwoodBooks)

Available Formats: Trade paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Christmas Romance Book Icon made by Jorie in Canva.

Converse via: #ChristmasRomance and #HistRom as well as #TimeTravel war drama

About Jina Bacarr

Jina Bacarr

I started out working as a reporter writing articles for a travel magazine based in Beverly Hills and then for a computer magazine, as well as writing for academia, radio commercials, and PR copy. I’ve had three plays produced in Malibu, California and I worked for a time writing children’s and daytime TV before publishing nonfiction books about Japan, and then later fiction.

In addition to my WW 2 time travel romance, CHRISTMAS ONCE AGAIN, I’ve written a Civil War time travel in 1862 Virginia at the Battle of Antietam, a WW 2 Christmas novella in war torn Italy between a GI and a nun, an erotic novella about a hunky Scrooge from Wall Street, contemporary and historical erotic romance novels, and non-fiction books about Japan.

I enjoy writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by my side. I adore dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. I’ve always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris.

The voices of the past speak to me through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines and worn satin slippers. I’ve always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted Tuesday, 24 December, 2019 by jorielov in #blogmas, #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Blog Tour Host, Christmas Romance &/or Holiday Story, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Indie Author, Realistic Fiction, Romance Fiction, Second Chance Love, Singletons & Commitment, Sweet Romance, the Fifties, The World Wars

A dash of blog news + the #ThanksgivingReadathon | Wherein one #bookblogger re-tackles her #ChristmasReads *and!* delights herself silly with #SciFiMonth selections!

Posted Tuesday, 26 November, 2019 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comments

#ThanksgivingReadathon 2019 badge created by Jorie in Canva.

DETAILS: Read as many books as you can in the 7 days of the readathon which are 25th November – 1st December. Use the hashtag #ThankgivingReadathon via your social accounts to help celebrate the readathon and/or share it! Publish a Sign-Up Post between November 1st and November 30th. Publish a Wrap-Up post between December 1st and December 7th. Participate in the Bookstagram Challenge or in theory you could do those posts via #bookishTwitter. Link Up your sign-up and wrap-up posts. Comment on all the wonderful #ThanksgivingReadathon blog posts, Twitter updates, and Instagram photos from all the participants!

Hosted by: Death by Tsundoku | @DeathByTsundoku

Official Sign-Up Page & Where you Add your Links!

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My Reading List for #ThanksgivingReadathon [2019]:

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

A Light in the Window by Julie Lessman

Sleigh Bells Ring (anthology)

Christmas Kisses by Alison May (anthology)

Christmas at Pemberly by Regina Jeffers

In Love by Christmas by Cari Lynn Webb

The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen (a non-Christmassy selection!)

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→ (*as well as my purchase requests at the library*) →

A Family by Christmas by Viv Royce

Christmas Once Again by Jina Bacarr

(see also #SatBookChat featured Spotlight w/ link to archived chat)

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→ and a few extras for good measure via audiobook →

Yuletide: A Jane Austen Inspired Collection of Stories by the Quill Collective focusing on “Pride & Prejudice” narrated by Harry Frost

One Magical Christmas by Berni Stevens, narrated by Willow Nash

Mr Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva, narrated by Euan Morton

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Whilst reading a selection of Science Fiction & Magical Realism which are found via my #SciFiMonth TBR post – these lovelives will be alighting onto my blog’s archives during this readathon and through 7th of December to re-write history a bit & bend time per losing hours with my migraine & the crisis of my father’s BP spike as microblogged.

The ones I’m specifically looking forward to finishing are as follows:

  • The Renaissance Club (Time Travel) by Rachel Ducas
  • Far Orbit: Apogee (edited by) Bascomb James (Space Opera anthology)
  • The Case for Space (Non-Fiction) by Robert Zubrin
  • The Robot in the Next Cubicle (Non-Fiction) by Larry Boyer
  • The Time Key (Time Travel) by Melanie Bateman
  • Little Computer People (Speculative Sci Fi) by Galen Surlak-Ramsey
  • The Dream Keeper’s Daughter (Magical Realism) by Emily Colin
  • The Fighter of Aldea (Alt. Earth Spec Fict Fantasy) by Kira Weston
  • Heaven’s Edge Novella Series (Space Opera, the Rims) by Jennifer Silverwood
    (see also #SatBookChat featured Spotlight w/ link to archived chat)
  • Trans-Continental: Girl in the Gears (Steampunk) by E. Chris Garrison
  • Failure to Communicate (First Contact, Space Opera) by Kaia Sønderby

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If you love reading #ChristmasReads and/or #HolidayReads – which befit the following genres of interest – kindly leave me notes on this post – Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Women’s Fiction, Historical Fiction or INSPY Lit.

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #ThanksgivingReadathon 2019
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Posted Tuesday, 26 November, 2019 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs

#SatBookChat early #blogmas Spotlight | featured guest Jina Bacarr highlighting her #ChristmasReads time travelling war drama “Christmas Once Again” with a #chaptersampler extract!

Posted Saturday, 23 November, 2019 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

#SatBookChat Jina Bacarr badge created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

You might have seen me happily chattering about today’s featured #SatBookChat guest author during a recent #HistFicChat!? Ever since then – I’ve quite literally been stalking my local library for updates on my purchase request – as I found out within a very short window they accepted the purchase for this novel, however, what I hadn’t known is *when!* the book would arrive into the library and thus, be available for me to pick it up to borrow and read!

More uniquely – nearly all of my purchase requests this year were accepted *and!* I had a limited time window to read them (per why I did not finish most of them yet) as other patrons discovered the stories in the card catalogue and fetched them for their own readerly exploration! This title isn’t any different than those – as I have to read and sort out my thoughts for it to run during #blogmas before it needs to be returnt to the library on the 27th!

Now, normally that might sound like a long time (a proper fortnight) however between a major blog crisis (ie. Friday-Monday major technical issues where I couldn’t access my blog properly and it delayed all my posts for #SciFiMonth) and a severe migraine (ie. Sunday-Thursday) – you can see why my #HoHoHoRAT was less ‘ho ho ho’ and more ‘oh no no no’ angsty oy vie!

I dearly wanted to read it before #SatBookChat today as well – but I had to reconcile that I’ll be reading it this week instead – whilst only getting to dip my toes into the opening chapter or so ahead of happily chattering about the elements inside it which make my bookish heart swoon!

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This also marked a new transition of cross-social promotion for @SatBookChat as the author kindly created a short video which she shared via her feeds for #Instagram and within her #InstaStories (also on Instagram)!

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As you can see – this is one of those #ChristmasReads which gave me wicked sweet expectations of joy to be discussing during #SatBookChat and it is a delight of joy I can share this preview of the novel with my readers, visitors & chatters alike before we go LIVE @ 11a NYC | 4p UK | 8a PST to interact directly with Ms Bacarr and find more reasons to hug close to the story and bring a bit of war era loveliness in our holiday reads this festive season 2019!

I hope you’ve brewed a cuppa to enjoy the information on this spotlighted post in conjunction with @SatBookChat whilst taking time to visit our past chats archived via the Moments on the chat’s feeds via Twitter. This chat will be archived after it concludes and a bit lateron from there to allow everyone the chance to interact, share and respond.

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Without further adieu,
I give you my fifth #SatBookChat spotlight”
wherein you can learn a bit more about the author & her story.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Christmas Once Again by Jina Bacarr

All she wants for Christmas is to save the man she loves…

On a cold December day in 1955, Kate Arden got on a train to go home for Christmas.

This is the story of what happened when she got off that train. In 1943.

In 1943 Kate Arden was engaged to the man she loved, Jeffrey Rushbrooke. She was devastated and heartbroken when he was called up for wartime duty and later killed on a secret mission in France.

But what if Kate could change that? What if she could warn him and save his life before Christmas?
Or will fate have a bigger surprise in store for her?

Christmas Once Again is a sweeping, heartbreakingly romantic novel – it’s one woman’s chance to follow a different path and mend her broken heart…

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #blogmas 2019
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Posted Saturday, 23 November, 2019 by jorielov in #SatBookChat, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event

#HoHoHoRAT | A 10-day #readathon which is the Christmassy chase-up into my #blogmas #ChristmasReads for 2019!

Posted Friday, 8 November, 2019 by jorielov , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

#HoHoHoRAT badge created by Jorie in Canva.

DETAILS: Read or Listen Between Midnight 8th November and ending at 11:59 pm 17th November read or listen to holiday and Wintry novels and novellas. So grab your holiday reads, your winter books, your yuletide murder-mysteries, your naughty & nice romances and even your holiday horror and get ready for some fun! Share your progress on Twitter or Instagram using #HoHoHoRAT

Hosted by: Caffeinated Book Reviewer | @kimbacaffeinate

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My Reading List for #HoHoHoRat [2019]:

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

A Light in the Window by Julie Lessman

Sleigh Bells Ring (anthology)

Christmas Kisses by Alison May (anthology)

Christmas at Pemberly by Regina Jeffers

The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby by Cathy McDavid

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

→ (*as well as my purchase requests at the library*) →

A Family by Christmas by Viv Royce

Christmas Once Again by Jina Bacarr

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

→ and a few extras for good measure via audiobook →

Yuletide: A Jane Austen Inspired Collection of Stories by the Quill Collective focusing on “Pride & Prejudice” narrated by Harry Frost

One Magical Christmas by Berni Stevens, narrated by Willow Nash

Mr Dickens & His Carol by Samathan Silva, narrated by Euan Morton

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

The one novel I am unsure if I will have enough time to read during the duration of the readathon itself is: “Home for Christmas” by Catherine Lanigan. See my reading schedule for Lanigan’s series via #WWWeds! Whilst in the early morning hours of the first day of #HoHoHoRat I read & finished “Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise” by Jennifer Faye (see also Review).

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

If you love reading #ChristmasReads and/or #HolidayReads – which befit the following genres of interest – kindly leave me notes on this post – Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Women’s Fiction, Historical Fiction or INSPY Lit.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Let us take a closer look at why I’ve pulled these stories to be read: Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #HoHoHoRAT 2019
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Posted Friday, 8 November, 2019 by jorielov in Blogosphere Events & Happenings, RALs | Thons via Blogs