About the book, Aransas Evening
- Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction
- Publisher: Jeff Hampton, Writer
- Publication Date: October 4, 2018
- Number of Pages: 346 pages
- Scroll down for giveaway
Life in Port Aransas was looking breezy and bright for Sam and his friends at the Dream Bean coffee shop. Shelly and Dave were talking marriage, Allie and Bo were tightening their family ties, and Sam was welcoming newcomers to town and falling for a new singer at the Sea Garden. But storms are never far away on the Texas Gulf Coast, and there would be none more destructive than Hurricane Harvey. Would Sam and his friends survive Harvey’s awful fury? And would life in Port Aransas ever be the same again? Find out in Aransas Evening, the sequel to Aransas Morning by Jeff Hampton.
Buy, read, and discuss this book:
Author Website │ Amazon │ Etsy | Goodreads
Praise for the Aransas series:
– “Hampton’s characters pulled me in; hook, line, and sinker.”
– “The pace of the book is slow and easy, and I slipped into its rhythm like the ebb and flow of the water lapping against the shoreline.”
– “A lovely story about community, and how family isn’t always the one you are born into.
– “Isak Dinesen once wrote, ‘The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.’ Jeff Hampton has illustrated that with grace, elegance, and excellent coffee.”
About the author, Jeff Hampton
Jeff Hampton has based his life and career in Texas writing for newspapers, magazines, businesses, and institutions. His interest in observing the people around him has led him to write essays, short stories, and novels that explore relationships and communities in their many forms.
Aransas Evening is his sixth book, following Aransas Morning, Grandpa Jack, Jonah Prophet, When the Light Returned to Main Street, and The Snowman Uprising on Hickory Lane.
Connect with Jeff:
Website ║ Goodreads ║ Twitter ║ Instagram ║ Amazon Author Page
My Thoughts
When I read Jeff Hampton’s previous Aransas novel, Aransas Morning, I immediately fell in love with the setting, the people, and the theme of never being too old to discover who you truly are. It wasn’t a shock, then, that I jumped to read and review the sequel, and I’m glad I did, because returning to Port A was like coming home to a place I’d visited once, but only ever lived in my dreams.
The themes are a bit stronger in this novel, as is appropriate for a story that spans the days before and after Hurricane Harvey. (One could argue that we are still living in the ‘after,’ just not quite so close). We see Dave and Shelley’s relationship progressing toward marriage, albeit one built entirely on their terms, while we also see our beloved salty fisherman Bo and his daughter accept and try to handle his aging, and specifically his increasing memory loss/dementia/Alzheimer’s issues. For me, this story line hit particularly close to home, because as a young woman I watched my grandmother become diminished in that way, and also because in the time since August 2017, we’ve bid a permanent farewell to both of my in-laws, my stepfather (really my only father-figure) and my last great-uncle.
Death and loss and changing positions in life are part of growing older, and seeing characters in novels go through these very human changes is both revealing of who they are, and of who we are, as readers.
And then there is Sam. In the first novel, Sam was very much the central character; the major story line was his own escape from a previous life in Dallas and his evolution into the person he is by the end of the story. In Aransas Evening, while Sam is still a pivotal player, he’s more catalyst than protagonist at times, or maybe this novel is just more coherent as an ensemble piece.
Overall, Aransas Evening is a treat of a book, full of characters – old and new – who feel real enough to jump off the pages and share a mug of coffee while sitting with our toes in the sand. It’s a portrait of a place I wish I could visit in person, and a place I want to revisit in fiction over and over again.
Goes well with fresh-caught fish grilled over an open flame, and a cold beer.
Giveaway
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
Grand Prize Winner:
Signed Copies of all six of Jeff Hampton’s books
2 Winners:
Signed Copies of both Aransas books + Grandpa Jack + a pack of Texas Themed note cards
2 Winners:
Signed Copies of Aransas Evening & Grandpa Jack + a pack of Texas Themed note cards
JANUARY 17-26, 2019
(USA only)
Tour Stops for Aransas Evening
| 1/17/19 | Author Interview | StoreyBook Reviews |
| 1/17/19 | BONUS Promo | Hall Ways Blog |
| 1/18/19 | Review | Bibliotica |
| 1/19/19 | Excerpt | Max Knight |
| 1/20/19 | Playlist | Chapter Break Book Blog |
| 1/21/19 | Review | That’s What She’s Reading |
| 1/22/19 | Guest Post | All the Ups and Downs |
| 1/23/19 | Review | The Clueless Gent |
| 1/24/19 | Review | The Love of a Bibliophile |
| 1/25/19 | Scrapbook | Reading by Moonlight |
| 1/26/19 | Review | Forgotten Winds |
About the book, The Hollow Middle
About the author, John Popielaski
My first part time job while I was in high school was announcing at the local radio station, and I had fun being “on the air” and using my sarcastic sense of humor. I worked in the radio business for more than twenty years. My favorite pastimes are teaching figure skating, getting lost in a great book, and watching movies. I narrate and produce audio books in my home studio, and I truly enjoy bringing an author’s characters to life with an audio book. I currently reside in Minnesota with my slightly overweight cat and two childlike golden retrievers.
