Friday, March 29, 2019

Book Review: The Walker on the Cape by Mike Martin

If you enjoy a police procedural or a murder mystery with a unique protagonist, you'll find it in The Walker on the Cape by Mike Martin.

The body of Elias Martin is found on the Cape on the eastern coast of Canada. Word was the old man died of a heart attack or stroke, but it is soon discovered he was poisoned. Sergeant Wintson Windflower and his trusted colleague, Eddie Tizzard, are called to investigate, discovering Grand Bank  holds a lot of secrets for a small fishing community.

The Walker on the Cape is the first book in Martin's Sgt. Windflower Mysteries series. It features a full-blooded Cree as a sergeant for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. While balancing his work life with a little bit of romance, Windflower draws upon his native background and traditions to help others.

Martin does a fine job of crafting an engaging mystery with several twists and turns. He ramps up the tension between Windflower and his superior, making this story feel real. This novel had a quick pace and was easy to move through.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the third person omniscient point of view, so I struggled with that. In addition, it would have been helpful if the book made it through another round or two of edits. The number of typographical errors, missed words, or incorrect words drove me a bit batty; but that's the editor in me. Some readers might not notice as much.

Overall, this looks like it will be a fun series to read. Windflower and Tizzard make a great team.

File Size: 353 KB
Print Length: 243 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: BookLocker.com, Inc. (November 1, 2012)
Publication Date: November 1, 2012
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00A95U6JQ


I received a digital copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.




Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Book Review: The Morning Mind by Drs. Rob Carter III, PhD, MPH and Kirti Slawe Carter, MBBS, MPH

Do you ever wish you had a better understanding of how your body and brain work so you can boost mental performance, restore healthy waking and sleeping cycles, develop self-discipline, and more? The Morning Mind by Drs. Rob Carter III and Kirti Slawe Carter will be an excellent resource for that.

In this extensively detailed and engaging book, the Carters explain all about our brains, the body clock, and how our minds and bodies work in the morning. They also share how systematic learning, repetition, hard work, ritual, and routines hold the key to rebuilding the rest of the brain (think: getting rid of bad habits and replacing them with better ones).

The Morning Mind is different from what I expected, which is okay because it is totally fascinating. The doctors explain not only the different parts of the brain, they discuss stress hormones, your brain in the morning, how your heart impacts your health, and the significance of body temperature. All this provides an important foundation to understanding how we can create self-discipline and empowering habits.

Chapter 17 is dedicated to ancient wisdom about your brain and body. Readers are able to take a quiz to determine their primary and secondary dosha, because the way the brain works affects how we feel and behave. They help you understand your results and also provide a chart with your two optimum times of day. I took the test and it was spot on.

The Morning Mind also has a list of how some leaders start their day, which ends the book on an inspiring note.

This is definitely one of the better self-help books I've read on this topic. It doesn't recycle all the same information. It truly offers the reader a fuller understanding of how training your mind will have many positive effects.


Paperback: 197 pages
Publisher: AMACOM; Special edition (January 8, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0814439853
ISBN-13: 978-0814439852

I received a copy of this book from the authors. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.


Monday, March 25, 2019

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Mar 25



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Happy Monday! It looks like spring is finally here in Western Mass. Yesterday was beautiful and the rest of the week looks like it will be sunny and dry. That certainly helps my mood since leaving our church last weekend. We attended services with our former pastor at a church closer to our home. It was very nice, but I'm not ready to settle in. Thankfully, I'm spending a lot of time in the Word, so that keeps me focused on moving forward instead of looking at what was left behind.

In addition to keeping up with this Lenten devotional...


I am staying on top of my daily Bible reading as we make our way through the Bible chronologically this year. We are now into the book of Joshua from the Old Testament.

These two business books were small enough that I read through them quickly. I'll be implementing some of the strategies from the second one into my business. You can check out my reviews here.



This week I'll start this book for review.


These two are due next.



Then for May I need to review these two.




Finally, I need to get this one read.



Sounds like I will be busy. How about you? What are you reading? Anything great you would like to share?

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Book Reviews: Outrageous Authenticity and The 7 Deadly Sins of Sales by Leigh Brown

I met this author when she was speaking at a real estate convention. There is a reason she is called the No Bullshit Realtor®. Leigh Brown always tells it like it is--whether you like it or not. She does, however, tell you with humor and Southern charm.


In Outrageous Authenticity, Leigh shows you the importance of being true to yourself, and how being that authentic person will, ultimately, result in growing your business.

Leigh learned during the housing crisis that sitting down and telling people the way it was and helping people come up with a plan--even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear--earned her a lot of respect and repeat business. She is proof you don't have to use some script or tactic to grow your business. With Outrageous Authenticity, she inspires you to be the best you possible, so that your honesty and integrity become front and center.

Highly recommended!


In her second book, Leigh Brown shoots as straight from the hip as she did in Outrageous Authenticity. She goes through the "Seven Deadly Sins of Sales," some of which she herself has committed, and shares ways to solve these issues that are easy and make sense.

In true Leigh Brown style, her honesty will help transform your business with easy techniques. First she identifies your sins, and then dissects them one at a time, ending with key takeaways from each section. Leigh shows you how to go from sinner to saint and develop the good habits that will keep you happily selling and growing your business for years to come.

A notes section is included in the back. Maybe I'll use it to write down more about my own sins and how I'll use Leigh's tips to fix them.

If you're in sales, Leigh Brown should be on your list of authors to read.

I purchased both of these books at a real estate conference.   These reviews contain my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Friday, March 22, 2019

New Release: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer


In 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny...and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century.

Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now fifteen and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing her neighbors that they pose no real threat, and dreams instead of the day Tomasz returns from college in Warsaw so they can be married. But little by little, injustice by brutal injustice, the Nazi occupation takes hold, and Alina’s tiny rural village, its families, are divided by fear and hate. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears. Where Alina used to measure time between visits from her beloved, now she measures the spaces between hope and despair, waiting for word from Tomasz and avoiding the attentions of the soldiers who patrol her parents’ farm. But for now, even deafening silence is preferable to grief.

Slipping between Nazi-occupied Poland and the frenetic pace of modern life, Kelly Rimmer creates an emotional and finely wrought narrative that weaves together two women’s stories into a tapestry of perseverance, loyalty, love and honor. The Things We Cannot Say is an unshakable reminder of the devastation when truth is silenced ... and how it can take a lifetime to find our voice before we learn to trust it.

Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Graydon House; Original edition (March 19, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1525823566
ISBN-13: 978-1525823565


Purchase here!

Bargain Kindle: The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll


NO ONE EVER SUSPECTS THE GOOD ONE.

Brett and Kelly have always toed the line between supportive sisters and bitter rivals. Growing up, Brett was the problem child, in the shadow of the brilliant and beautiful Kelly. In adulthood, all that has changed. Kelly is a struggling single mother and Brett has skyrocketed to such meteoric success, which has been chronicled on a reality TV show called Goal Diggers.

When Kelly manipulates herself onto the show and into Brett’s world, Brett is right to be threatened. Kelly, and only Kelly, knows her younger sister's appalling secret, and it could ruin her.

Still, when the truth comes out in the explosive final weekend of filming, neither of them ever expected that the season would end in murder.

File Size: 2870 KB
Print Length: 385 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 15, 2018)
Publication Date: May 15, 2018
Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
Language: English
ASIN: B075RVX7DB


Purchase here!

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Shelf Control - Mar 19



Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves sponsored by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up!

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. Here's how to jump on board:

  • Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
  • Add your link in the comments!
  • Link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your own post.
  • Check out other posts, and…
Have fun!

It's been over a month since I participated in this meme. The workload has been tough. I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of things.

Today I will feature another freebie from my Kindle.


BLURB:  Purity, Courtney and Meg are the She Musketeers, until Alex and Bobby enter the scene. A twenty-seven day job interview, tingling kisses, and Pure's crazy ex make for a bumpy ride to Happily Ever After.

DATE BOUGHT: 10/19/11

WHY I BOUGHT IT: Absolutely no clue. Reading the blurb now, it doesn't even sound like something I would be interested in. I'm wondering if it was because of the reviews. I like to read something that has received more lukewarm reviews than stellar ones. Maybe I was going through  a tough time when I bought it and just wanted a light and easy book to dig into.

Have you ever grabbed a book and looked at it much later and wondered why you bought it?

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Interview with Mike Martin, Author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series



Mike Martin was born in Newfoundland on the East Coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand. He is the author of Change the Things You Can: Dealing with Difficult People and has written a number of short stories that have published in various publications including Canadian Stories and Downhome magazine.

The Walker on the Cape was his first full fiction book and the premiere of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series. Other books in the series include The Body on the T, Beneath the Surface, A Twist of Fortune and A Long Ways from Home, which was shortlisted for the Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award as the best light mystery of the year. A Tangled Web was released in 2017 and the newest book in the series is Darkest Before the Dawn.


Twitter: @mike54martin



Did you like mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels when you were growing up?

I loved the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, a British young boy's series that had lots of adventures and they always had a bag of sweets. Later, I loved Stephen King, until he scared me too much.

What was the first story in that genre that you wrote?

I never wrote horror, but mystery remained a favorite. My first mystery was The Walker on the Cape, the first book in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series.

What is your favorite part of writing in this genre?

I love the idea of discovering a crime like a murder and then taking the time to not just solve the crime, but to explore why people do these kind of things in the first place.


What do you find most difficult about writing in this genre?

There are some general rules that you have to follow that sometimes stop the flow, but it's also that readers are very smart and point out any errors or mistakes that they find. You have to find a hook or something different every time you kill someone, especially in a series.

Is there an author in this genre that you admire most?

Louise Penny is an author that many of us admire and few of us can hope to live up to. She has created characters and a world that we would all like to live in.

What is up next for you?

I have started a new book in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series and I'm also working on an audio book for The Walker on the Cape. Both will be out this year sometime.

Do you have anything to add?

Thank you very much for your interest. Keep reading and I will keep writing.

Monday, March 18, 2019

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Mar 18



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Sometimes Monday comes too soon. That's certainly the case today. After a tough weekend--you can read about that here if  you like--I'm going to work on catching up since I've been a bit distracted.

I just finished this Regency romance novella and my review appears here.


I am also continuing with  my Lenten devotional.


Next up I need to read this mystery.


Then these next two follow.



What's on your reading list? Any good books you could recommend from your recent reads?


Book Review: Finding Lord Farlisle by Cassandra Dean

Finding Lord Farlisle by Cassandra Dean is a passionate and touching story of past friends reuniting after years apart.

Lord Maxim Farlisle was shipwrecked and presumed dead more than a decade ago. Many of his memories lost, he always recalled a girl with golden hair. As his memories returned, he made his way back to his childhood home to find Waithe Hall shut and deserted.

Lady Alexandra Torrence mourned the loss of her childhood friend Maxim, but her fascination with spirits leads her back to Waithe Hall to investigate mysterious activities seen by the villagers. Long since shuttered, she is surprised to discover a ghost of a different kind...Maxim in the flesh.

Both scared by their time apart, they begin to reconnect and fill in the years that they lost, realizing that all along, they have only wanted to be together.

What a fascinating novella. Dean writes an intriguing story of two people unexpectedly brought back together again. The characters are well-developed considering the short length, and you can't help but root for them to find a way of getting beyond those miserable years where Maxim was assumed dead; when he struggled with finding his way in a world where he didn't belong, with many of his memories gone.

Alexandra is likable from the start. You admire her spunk and her uniqueness. She brings out something in Maxim he thought lost. She makes him see his truth worth.

Absolutely love how the author worked Maxim's disability into the story line and kept it real.

I'm eager to see what the next book is all about.

EXCERPT

It was eleven years ago. The pain had faded, but had never truly left. Alexandra had thought
she’d learned to live with it. But now…now Maxim was here?

A thunderous scowl on his face, he made a noise of impatience. “I do not have the inclination for this, girl. Tell me why you have come.”

His voice crashed over her. That, too, had deepened with age, but it was him. It was him.

“It is you.” Joy filled her, so big it felt her skin couldn’t contain it. Throwing herself at him, she enveloped him in a hug.

He stiffened.

Embarrassment coursed through her. What was she thinking? Immediately, she untangled herself from him. “I beg your pardon,” she stammered. Always before they’d been exuberant in their affections. They’d always found ways to touch one another, even though that last summer, the one before he’d gone away, she’d begun to feel...more....

Clasping her hands before her, she brought herself to the present. Much had changed, now they were grown and he, apparently, had not died.

Maxim had not died.

A wave of emotion swept her, a mix of relief, joy, incredulity…. It buckled her knees and burned her eyes. He was alive. Maxim was alive.

Amazon:
https://amzn.to/2CYxUBh
https://amzn.to/2R5emhq
https://amzn.to/2Sain5x
https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Lord-Farlisle-Lost-Lords-ebook/dp/B07JLWSFJG

iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/finding-lord-farlisle/id1439825567

B&N
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-lord-farlisle-cassandra-dean/1129772576

Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cassandra_Dean_Finding_Lord_Farlisle

Kobo
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/finding-lord-farlisle

Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/902543


Cassandra Dean will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner
 via rafflecopter during the tour.



a Rafflecopter giveaway





Saturday, March 16, 2019

Interview with Patricia Boomsma, Author of The Way of Glory


Patricia Boomsma grew up in a far southwestern suburb of Chicago, moving to Arizona to escape the brutal midwestern winters. She was a lawyer in Arizona for over thirty years, including six years as the Flagstaff City Attorney. Before going to law school, she studied medieval literature at Purdue University, and her first novel, The Way of Glory, is, in part, a reflection of her love for all things medieval. She recently earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her publications include poems in Haiku Journal and Indolent Press, a book review in New Orleans Review, an article in the Journal of Modern Literature, and short stories in The Vignette Review, Persimmon Tree, and Scarlet Leaf Review.

Website: https://patboomsma.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patriciajboomsma/

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Palos Heights, a southwestern suburb of Chicago. It’s pretty built up now, but when my parents moved us there it was still a lot of farmland surrounded by forest preserve.

When did you begin writing?

I wrote my first “book” when I was nine. Pretty much all I remember about it is that it had shepherds and because I wrote it at the time Alan Shepard went into space I misspelled “shepherd” as “shepard” throughout. Luckily my grandma caught it. After that, I wrote the occasional poem or story, and did a lot of writing in my various jobs, but began writing my novel at age 59, after I retired from full-time work.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

Mostly during the day, and usually in long spurts. I find life distracting and so don’t write every day, but once I start, I write for many hours at a time.

What is this book about?

Set in the 12th century, The Way of Glory follows Cate, a teenage girl from Bristol, England, her two brothers Sperleng and Willard, and her aunt Mary on an armed pilgrimage to save Jerusalem. On their way, the crusader fleet joins the Portuguese and Spanish Christians trying to expel the Moors ruling Hispania.

Cate’s life changes when she finds the body of a young boy, Oxa, along the banks of the Frome River. At Oxa’s funeral, the local priest encourages the mourners to punish the local Jews presumed to be Oxa’s murderers and join those who were soon leaving to fight the Saracens. Cate assumes all pilgrims have religious motivations, only to discover that most are men looking for adventure, wealth, and a free pass to heaven. Life on a battlefield strains the family’s closeness as they face the terror and contradictions of holy war. Cate and her Aunt Mary cauterize wounds and confront decisions of who should be saved, while Willard becomes increasingly zealous and hateful toward the women in the camp and Sperleng, a soldier, becomes more entrenched in his military code.

After the siege of Lisbon, the fleet is asked to continue fighting in Hispania. Willard and much of the fleet head toward Jerusalem, while Sperleng stays, seeing the land the Count of Barcelona has promised as a way to improve his tradesman status. Cate’s dreams of sainthood change to those of a husband and children as she falls in love with Egric, one of her brother’s archers. The battles continue even after Sperleng receives land, and Cate must find her place in a strange culture. Cate’s friendship with a conquered Moor forces impossible choices between family, betrayal, and the threat of losing of all she’s known.



What inspired you to write it?

After I retired, I took a trip to Spain and was amazed at the Moorish architecture and culture, so different from Northern Europe. I’d studied medieval English literature and history in graduate school, and couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like for someone from medieval England to come across medieval Spanish culture – if I was amazed, how much stranger it would be for them? So, I started researching whether that ever happened, and came across articles talking about Anglo-Normans settling in Spain after the Second Crusade. I used that as the historical context for a story about ordinary people confronting the mixed motivations of religious warfare and living among people from a very different culture.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

I spent two years trying to find an agent or an independent publisher before deciding to self-publish my novel.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

The ebook is available from Amazon, but you can order a paperback from any bookseller, including online at IndieBound, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

What is up next for you?

I’m editing my second novel now. It’s a very different novel, set in the present and focusing on the strained relationship between a mother and daughter after the daughter goes to college and joins what her mother fears is a cult.


Friday, March 15, 2019

Book Spotlight and Giveaway: The Way of Glory by Patricia J. Boomsma


Publication Date: November 14, 2018

Edeleboom Books
eBook & Paperback; 390 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction


Cate, a teenage girl from twelfth century England, joins her brothers and aunt on a crusade to save Jerusalem that stops in Hispania to battle the Moors. Life on a battlefield strains the family’s closeness as they confront the terror and contradictions of holy war. Cate’s dreams of sainthood change to those of a husband and children when she falls in love with a soldier, but she finds no peace even after the family settles on land taken from the Moors. Cate’s friendship with a conquered Moor soon leads to impossible choices as she faces the cost of betrayal and the loss of all she’s known.

Praise for The Way of Glory

"One of the many impressive things about The Way of Glory is how lightly it wears its scrupulous research. This fine novel invites you to lose yourself to the compelling character and tumultuous life of a young woman trying to find God and love at the heart of a crusade rooted in greed and hate. This is a remarkable debut by a writer to watch." -Naeem Murr, author of The Perfect Man

"The Way of Glory convincingly portrays a place, a time, and a people vastly different from our own. Historical fiction is a fantastically difficult genre to get right, but Pat Boomsma manages it with aplomb." -Pinckney Benedict, author of Dogs of God

"The Way of Glory is a riveting read from first page to last, as it expertly traces the trajectories of several compelling characters caught up in the Crusades. As the protagonist, Cate will steal your heart; she's as complex a fourteen-year-old as you will ever meet, and the fate she struggles against is a complicated and often frightening vortex of forces, made ever richer by the intense evocation and very thoughtful depictions. This is a remarkable novel." -Fred Leebron, author of Welcome to Christiania

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

About the Author

I grew up in a far southwestern suburb of Chicago among the trees and sloughs of the Cook County Park District, then attended college in Michigan. After graduating, I dreamed of an academic life teaching English literature and began a Ph.D. program at Purdue University. There I concentrated on medieval studies, receiving a Master's and continuing on for four more years before realizing that no one I knew was finding a permanent, let alone tenure-track, position. So, instead of writing my dissertation I went to law school. I moved to Arizona to escape the brutal midwestern winters and have been practicing law there for over thirty years. My first novel, The Way of Glory, is, in part, an extension of my love for all things medieval.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Friday, March 15
Interview at The Book Connection

Saturday, March 16
Feature at Maiden of the Pages

Monday, March 18
Guest Post at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Tuesday, March 19
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views

Wednesday, March 20
Guest Post at Among the Reads
Excerpt at The Book Junkie Reads

Friday, March 22
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books
Excerpt at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots

Saturday, March 23
Feature at CelticLady's Reviews

Monday, March 25
Review at History from a Woman’s Perspective

Tuesday, March 26
Feature at Coffee and Ink
Review at Red Headed Book Lady

Thursday, March 28
Feature at Passages to the Past

Saturday, March 30
Review at Impressions In Ink


Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we will be giving away a paperback copy of Brandon-Tudor Knight! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on March 19th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to the US & Canada only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The Way of Glory


Monday, March 11, 2019

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Mar 11



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

It's hard to believe two weeks has passed since I last posted this meme. Time slips away faster as we head toward the spring market. That's part of why we snuck away for a little R&R this weekend. I didn't even bring my laptop; so rare in my world that the children thought I had gone crazy.

Thanks to our time away and the time in the car, I was able to finish The Morning Mind. It wasn't quite what I expected, but it was extremely interesting.



I also polished off The Last Fifty Pages


I'm reading this devotional for Lent, which began this past Wednesday. 



Next up are these ones:






As of right now, that's it for books I must review. I would really like to read The Liberty Bride after that. I think this is my favorite cover of the series so far. 



What have you been reading? Are you caught up on reviews? Are there any spring and summer releases you're looking forward to?




Wednesday, March 6, 2019

New Poetry Collection: There Are Girls Like Lions by Karolin Schnoor


For mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, and friends, here are 30 stirring poems about the experience of being a woman. Rousing and empowering, There Are Girls like Lions is a celebration of womanhood in all its dimensions, including love, beauty, friendship, motherhood, work, aging, and much more. Packaged in an attractive case with foil stamping and featuring striking illustrations in metallic ink throughout, this powerful collection will resonate as a gift for any modern woman.

Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 5, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1452173451
ISBN-13: 978-1452173450



Purchase at:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble


Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Guest Blogger: Andrea Thome, Author of House of Belonging



Renowned chef Laina Ming walked away from the culinary spotlight and an unhealthy relationship—one that still haunts her a year later. She’s trying to start fresh in the Rocky Mountains, opening a concept restaurant on the banks of the Roaring Fork River, where she hopes she’ll be able to express her passion for food and bury her heartache.

Horse rancher Logan Matthews moved to Aspen to be near his sister and her husband, grateful for his newfound family. Since a chance meeting with Laina the previous summer, Logan’s been enchanted. But she doesn’t want anything to do with him—which makes her all the more appealing.

Despite Laina’s efforts to protect her heart, Logan has been on her mind, too—and he has a way of turning up in the most unexpected places. Can they learn to trust one another and finally find the sense of belonging they’ve both been searching for?

DEFYING GENRE 
BY ANDREA THOME

I love writing. More than I love most things—with the exception of my family and travel—both of which play a huge part in my writing. There is nothing better than taking readers on a journey to a place that is special to me, or introducing them to characters that have the potential to make them contemplate more deeply their own life choices.

What I don’t love about being an author is the need to have my work “categorized,” so that it neatly fits into one specific genre. Each of my three books—Walland, Seeds of Intention and House of Belonging— have been classified as “romance novels,” but I hope and believe that they are so much more.

I’m very fortunate to have recently had the first book in my award-winning Hesse Creek Series selected for a traveling exhibit of books, art, and music called The TRIO Project. Walland was one of about a dozen books paired with a songwriter and a visual artist, each of whom created a corresponding song as well as a piece of art that were inspired by reading the book. The TRIO exhibit will travel to independent bookstores across the South throughout 2019. (You can see the art created for Walland by Robert Oren Eades and hear the song written and performed by Sarah Aili on my Facebook page, linked below. If you live in the South, I hope you’ll check my website for dates and stores that I’ll be visiting during the year. Please come and say hi!)

The kickoff to this very special traveling exhibit was in late January in Charleston, South Carolina. During my short opening remarks, I made reference to the fact that my books—while they are love stories—don’t fit within the confines of the genre that most people associate with “romance.” In short, they aren’t bodice-rippers. As I told the audience that night, “They're more fifteen shades of taupe, than Fifty Shades of Grey.”

The women in my books don’t need saving. They’re already enjoying rich, complex lives, so they aren’t actively looking for anyone to complete them. My female characters are confident and strong while maintaining a vulnerability that just so happens to leave the door open to invite love into their lives. The men in my books aren’t brooding or angry. They are thoughtful and kind, with quiet strength and a depth of character that is much more attractive than the forceful affection found in many (but not all!) romance novels, at least in my humble opinion.

Can a book can be sexy and classy at the same time? I think so. I believe that we all could use a little more love and light in our lives these days. If you’re looking to read stories that will take you on a journey to the moody Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, or to the cozy-but-ultra-chic Rocky Mountain town of Aspen, while also leaving you feeling hopeful about love—then the Hesse Creek Series is for you. When I’m pressed to describe my books for blogs such as these, I always say that they are destination love stories. I’m grateful to readers who choose to take the journey with me. I hope you’ll enjoy reading Walland, Seeds of Intention, and House of Belonging as much as I’ve loved creating them. My gratitude for readers, bloggers and reviewers knows no bounds. Thank you for considering my work.

Peace and Love,

Andrea Thome, Author

http://www.andreathome.com
http://www.facebook.com/andreathomeauthor
http://www.twitter.com/andreathome
http://www.instagram.com/andreathomeauthor

To purchase The Hesse Creek Series: http://www.andreathome.com/purchase/
Whenever possible, please purchase from an Independent Bookseller. To find one near you, click the IndieBound link on my website’s purchase page under the book of interest.

TRIO LIVE EVENT—Page 158
Wake Forest, NC
Tuesday, April 9, 2019



ANDREA THOME is a former broadcast journalist, having covered both sports and news during her career. In her novels, she explores some of her favorite travel destinations, from the foothills of the Smoky Mountains to the Colorado Rockies, painting rich backdrops that become characters themselves. Thome lives in Chicago with her husband—a retired Hall of Fame baseball player— their two children, and two spoiled cats. She spends her spare time traveling and pursuing her other passions—photography and environmental advocacy. The Hesse Creek Series can absolutely be read as stand-alone novels, but are best enjoyed in order, as a series. See a sampling of her photography and learn more about her books at www.andreathome.com.