Review: The First Signs of April, by Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe

24 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, The First Signs of April

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: She Writes Press (September 5, 2017)

Wounds fester and spread in the darkness of silence. The swirling reds, oranges, and yellows of fall’s foliage dance alongside Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe like flames as she tears through the winding back roads of the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. Desperate to outrun memories that flood her mind, no matter how hard she rolls her motorcycle’s throttle, she cannot escape them.

Shut down and disconnected, Briscoe has lived her life in silence in order to stay alive. Her grief is buried, and shame is the skin that wraps around her bones—but then, following the brutal murder of a local teacher, she is forced as a grief counselor to face her lifetime of unresolved sorrow. Will she finally be able to crack the hard edges of her heart and allow in the light of truth so real healing can occur?

Buy, read, and discuss The First Signs of April

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the Author, Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe

Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe is a licensed mental health counselor currently on sabbatical from her private psychotherapy practice in northeastern Vermont. She currently spends her time between Cape Cod, Vermont, and Ireland. She has a masters degree in clinical mental health counseling from Lesley University and is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and a Certified Trauma Professional. She has been a lecturer for Springfield College School of Professional and Continuing Studies St. Johnsbury, Vermont campus. She has contributed to Cape Woman Online and Sweatpants and Coffee magazine. This is her first book.

Connect with Mary-Elizabeth

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

I love memoirs, because I love to peek into other people’s lives, but I often feel weird reviewing them, because in a way, reviewing a memoir is like passing judgement on the writer’s life, rather than just their book.

In this case, I didn’t have that problem, because Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe’s memoir The First Signs of April, is so well written it feels like reading a novel. Her descriptions are vivid and realistic – I felt like I was on her motorcycle with her, or walking her dog, or any number of other places – and her voice is one of wit and candor mixed with hard-won self-awareness.

I really appreciated the way Briscoe alternated chapters set in the ‘present’ of her memoir – 2014 – with chapters in 2000 and 1982. It really felt cinematic experiencing her story that way, her growing up/coming of age, her early adulthood, and her more contemporary self, and it’s that juxtaposition that really made this book more than just a memoir, but something truly special.

True, there are some very dark moment in Briscoe’s story. There is blood and loss and heartache. Overall, though, I believe that this memoir has a note of hope running through it.

Goes well with sharp cheddar, fresh bread, and a nice red wine.

Tour Schedule:

Sept. 7: Teddy Rose Book Reviews and Plus More (Book Spotlight/Giveaway)
Sept. 20: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom (Review)
Sept. 28: Debra Smouse (Review)
Oct. 3: Soapy Violinist (Review)
Oct. 4: Diary of an Eccentric (Guest Post)
Oct. 18: The Book Connection (Guest Post)
Oct. 24: Bibliotica (Review)
Nov. 3: Life’s a Stage (Guest Post)
Nov. 4: Readaholic Zone (Review)
Nov. 15: Donna’s Book Reviews (Review)

Review: Scion of the Fox, by S.M. Beiko

19 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, Scion of the Fox

Print Length: 440 pages
Publisher: ECW Press (October 17, 2017)
Series: The Realms of the Ancient (Book 1)

Roan Harken considers herself a typical high school student — dead parents, an infected eyeball, and living in the house of her estranged, currently comatose grandmother (well, maybe not so typical) — but she’s uncovering the depth of the secrets her family left behind. Saved from the grasp of Death itself by a powerful fox spirit named Sil, Roan must harness mysterious ancient power . . . and quickly. A snake-monster called Zabor lies in wait in the bed of the frozen Assiniboine River, hungry for the sacrifice of spirit-blood in exchange for keeping the flood waters at bay. Thrust onto an ancient battlefield, Roan soon realizes that to maintain the balance of the world, she will have to sacrifice more than her life in order to take her place as Scion of the Fox.

American Gods meets Princess Mononoke in this powerful first installment of a trilogy sure to capture readers’ imaginations everywhere.

Praise for Scion of the Fox

“A thrilling tale underscored by excellent, deep, and unique world-building.” — Kelley Armstrong, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A smart, complex, animal-based fantasy.” — Kirkus Reviews

“S.M. Beiko’s Scion of the Fox is the thrilling first installment in what will surely be an exceptionally imaginative trilogy. Roan Harken is an instantly relatable heroine, a girl with guts and moxie in spades, and Beiko moves her story from hilarious to heartbreaking with true literary grace. Evocative prose and crisp, crackling dialogue perfectly define this rich fantasy world. I can’t wait for Book Two!” — Charlene Challenger, author of The Voices in Between and The Myth in Distance

“In Scion of the Fox, S.M. Beiko introduces us to Roan, a wry, fierce young woman whose world changes in the blink of an infected eye. She’s more than she has ever imagined, and there’s enchantment everywhere — flying, running, and swimming around her — transforming everything and everyone she has ever known. Beiko’s magic-steeped Winnipeg is a marvel, and Roan is a delight. I look forward to following her into her next adventure.” — Caitlin Sweet, author of The Pattern Scars

Buy, read, and discuss Scion of the Fox:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Kobo | Goodreads

About the author, S.M. Beiko

Samantha “S.M.” Beiko has been writing and drawing strange, fantastical things since before she can remember. She currently works as a freelance editor, graphic designer, and consultant and is the co-publisher of ChiZine Publications and ChiGraphic. Her first novel, The Lake and the Library, was nominated for the Manitoba Book Award for Best First Book as well as the 2014 Aurora Award. Scion of the Fox is the first book of the Realms of Ancient trilogy. Samantha lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Connect with Samantha:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

While I grew up on science fiction and fantasy, I don’t really read a lot of either genre any more. I still love it, I just have broader tastes than I did when I was a geeky teenager. Scion of the Fox, the first novel in S.M. Beiko’s Realms of the Ancient series might have successfully lured me back, though.

Engaging from the very first page, this novel has the perfect balance of teenage angst, supernatural intrigue, fantasy mysticism, and even talking animals that manage to be neither cute nor precious (they’re not really talking animals, of course, but Denizens, a breed of… shapeshifter is the closest analogy, but that’s not really accurate).

Protagonist Roan Harken mixes the vulnerability of the smart girl who doesn’t really fit in, with the strength of the female heroes we love to see in contemporary media. She’d easily hold her own against Buffy Summers or Veronica Mars, and end up best friends with them at the end. Just as strongly written are Roan’s closest friends, Phae, who has been both supporter and sidekick since grade school, and wheel-chair bound Barton, who has a sort of instant kinship with Roan.

As with many YA stories, regardless of medium, the adults in this piece are largely ineffective (c.f. Aunt Dierdre, who means well, but doesn’t really take much action) or villainous (Uncle Arnas) while the younger generation tends to go off half-cocked, but that works in this story, and, fantastic elements aside, all of the relationships felt incredibly plausible.

Scion of the Fox was my first introduction to S.M. Beiko’s work, but I’ll happily read the rest of this series as it becomes available, and I’d recommend it to actual young people as well as adults who appreciate YA fiction.

Goes well with sliced apples dipped in peanut butter and a steaming mug of hot chocolate, whipped cream optional.

Review: The Girl who Saved Ghosts, by K.C. Tansley

17 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, The Girl who Saved Ghosts

Print Length: 258 pages
Publisher: Beckett Publishing Group (October 17, 2017)
Series: The Unbelievables (Book 2)

She tried to ignore them. Now she might risk everything to save them.

After a summer spent in a haunted castle—a summer in which she traveled through time to solve a murder mystery—Kat is looking forward to a totally normal senior year at McTernan Academy. Then the ghost of a little girl appears and begs Kat for help, and more unquiet apparitions follow. All of them are terrified by the Dark One, and it soon becomes clear that that this evil force wants Kat dead.

Searching for help, Kat leaves school for the ancestral home she’s only just discovered. Her friend Evan, whose family is joined to her own by an arcane history, accompanies her. With the assistance of her eccentric great aunts and a loyal family ghost, Kat soon learns that she and Evan can only fix the present by traveling into the past.

As Kat and Evan make their way through nineteenth-century Vienna, the Dark One stalks them, and Kat must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save a ghost.

Buy, read, and discuss The Girl who Saved Ghosts:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

About the author, K.C. Tansley

K.C. Tansley is the bestselling and award-winning author of The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts (2015). She lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, on a hill in Connecticut. Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days.

Connect with K.C.:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts:

K.C. Tansley’s Unbelievables series captured my imagination when I reviewed the first book in the series two years ago. Now, with the second book, The Girl who Saved Ghosts, I feel like I’m revisiting old friends. They’ve grown and changed a bit since our last meeting, but Kat and Evan are still brave, kind, and a little bit reckless, the way we all wish we could be.

Kat, I felt, was the most changed, since her decision to allow ghosts back into her life is literally draining the life from her, but when she’s given a mystery to solve, she leaps into the task, and that’s what I really love about her.

Similarly, Evan is a strong support system – who doesn’t want a friend like him?

Author Tansley’s flair for vivid detail is even stronger in this novel, and one thing I really appreciated was that she managed to increase the risk and jeopardy for her characters without making them seem older than they should be.

As before, there’s an element of time travel in this novel, and Tansley handles the period sections of this novel most ably. Reading this book, you are no mere observer; you are transported into elite educational institutions, creepy estates, and old-world Europe, and it all occurs with the most delicious shiver up and down your spine, as if there might be a ghost standing next to you, just waiting to be noticed.

While this book is best enjoyed after reading it’s predecessor, The Girl who Ignored Ghosts, it’s equally satisfying as a stand-alone story.

Goes well with a Twix candy bar and a cold Dr. Pepper.

Review: Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

13 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 10, 2017)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and the perfect moment to escape to a charming English village! From the beloved author whose novels are “sheer indulgence from start to finish” (SOPHIE KINSELLA) comes a delightful holiday story — funny, heartfelt, romantic and packed with recipes — perfect for the winter months.

In the Cornish coastal village of Mount Polbearne, the Christmas season has arrived. It’s a joyous time for family, friends, and feasting, as decorations sparkle along the town’s winding streets and shop windows glow with festive displays. And in Polly’s Little Beach Street Bakery, the aroma of gingerbread cookies and other treats tempts people in from the cold.

Though Polly is busy keeping up with the demands of the season, she still makes time for her beekeeper boyfriend, Huckle. She’s especially happy to be celebrating the holiday this year with him, and can’t wait to cuddle up in front of the fireplace with a cup of eggnog on Christmas Eve.

But holiday bliss soon gives way to panic when a storm cuts the village off from the mainland. Now it will take all of the villagers to work together in order to ensure everyone has a happy holiday.

Full of heart and humor, Jenny Colgan’s latest novel is an instant Christmastime classic.

Buy, read, and discuss Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Jenny Colgan

Jenny Colgan is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Bookshop on the Corner, Little Beach Street Bakery, and Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery, all international bestsellers. Jenny is married with three children and lives in London and Scotland.

Connect with Jenny:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts:

Revisiting the Little Beach Street Bakery and the world that Jenny Colgan has created around it, in her version of Cornwall, is like reuniting with an old friend. You may not have spoken for years, but as soon as you see each other, you pick up as if no time has left.

I won’t give Colgan all the credit for my own fantasies of living in a lighthouse, but I’m sure her work stokes the fire. Sure Polly and Huckle (and Neil the gull) are living in the cold and damp much of the time, but they do it with such good humor and zest for life that having to bundle yourself under layers of sweaters (each more shapeless than the last) or preheat the electric blanket on your bed feels romantic rather than distressingly rustic.

What I continue to love about this series is that the characters grow and change, but remain intrinsically themselves. Kerensa, Polly’s best friend, is dealing with a communications issues within her marriage and a pregnancy, but she still retains the wild-child element that so defines her, and Polly herself, while more settled with Huckle, and keeping her bakery a success is still delightfully neurotic, and full of heart.

Set at Christmas time, this novel is perhaps a bit fluffier, or more soft-focus, than the previous entries in the series, but I think considering the subject matter, and the amazing ending, that softening is appropriate.

This whole series makes you want to curl up in a chilly room with a heavy quilt, a pot of coffee, and freshly-baked treats. Conveniently, there are even recipes included in the back.

Goes well with mincemeat twists and awesome hot chocolate; recipes for both are in the book!

Tour Stops for Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery

Tuesday, October 10th: BookExpression

Wednesday, October 11th: BookNAround

Thursday, October 12th: A Chick Who Reads

Friday, October 13th: Bibliotica

Monday, October 16th: Buried Under Books

Tuesday, October 17th: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, October 18th: bookchickdi

Thursday, October 19th: Kahakai Kitchen

Friday, October 20th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, October 20th: Reading Reality

Saturday, October 21st: Girl Who Reads

Monday, October 23rd: Into the Hall of Books

Tuesday, October 24th: StephTheBookworm

Wednesday, October 25th: A Bookworm’s World

Friday, October 27th: Jathan & Heather

Friday, October 27th: Books and Bindings

Spotlight: Hidden Sea by Miles Arceneaux – with Giveaway

12 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, Hidden Sea

Paperback: 214 pages
Publisher: Miles Arceneaux (October 1, 2017)

Charlie Sweetwater saw Mexico—especially the Mexican Gulf Coast—as a spiritual second home. He’d worked, played and lived there for much of his life, and thought the country suited him better than anywhere this side of his home on the Texas Coast.

But now a worrisome and potentially dangerous development has shown up on Charlie’s radar. Young Augustus Sweetwater, affectionately known as Augie, hasn’t reported in after completing a south-of-the-border sales trip for Sweetwater Marine. Raul, Augie’s father and Charlie’s nephew, is worried sick. Drug cartel violence in Mexico has reached epidemic proportions and Augie’s path took him through the heart of the narcotraficantes’ territory.

Charlie figures Augie just went off the grid to do some well-deserved fishing, surfing and beer-drinking at the end of his trip. He’d done the same in his time. But as Augie’s unexplained absence grows, Charlie and Raul become increasingly alarmed and set off for Mexico to bring their boy home.

What they unearth is far more than the sum of their fears. The familiar and friendly Gulf of Mexico has turned into a hidden sea plagued by smugglers, human traffickers, crooked politicians and even pirates. And Augie is lost somewhere in the middle of it all.

Charlie and Raul must summon an unlikely cast of characters to aid them, including a hilariously dissolute ex-pat musician, a priest whose faith struggles against the rising tide of refugee migration, a Mexican tycoon who may have secrets of his own and a beautiful maritime “repo man”. At the end of their quest, as the deepest secret of all is revealed, Charlie Sweetwater learns that neither Raul and Augie, nor the Gulf of Mexico, nor even himself, will ever be the same again.

Praise for Hidden Sea

“A riveting story from Texas that wanders down the cartel-invested Gulf Coast of Mexico and drifts across to lawless Cuba. The characters are as salty as the sea and the plot pulls you along as powerfully as the loop current. –W.F. Strong, Stories from Texas, Texas Standard Radio Network
“Hidden Sea is a total blast: smart, funny, and riveting, with unforgettably colorful characters and a world so alive that you’ll swear you’re really there.”Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone
“In Hidden Sea, Miles Arceneaux tosses us in the drink of a timely contemporary adventure tale with the Sweetwater clan, complete with pirates, slave ships, family secrets, and the mother of all plot twists, in his patented Gulf Coast noir style.” Michelle Newby Lancaster, Contributing Editor, Lone Star Literary Life, NBCC Literary Critic

In Case You Were Wondering about Hidden Sea:

If the Miles Arceneaux book series was turned into a board game like CLUE, these items would be the murder weapons – each have been used to dispense with one of the characters in our five Gulf Coast mysteries.

gaff hook
Karankawa lance
rusty fillet knife
rolled up newspaper
pick ax
48” pipe wrench
wadcutter cartridges from a Smith &Wesson Model 1913 automatic

Buy, read, and discuss Hidden Sea:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

About the author, Miles Arceneaux

“Miles Arceneaux” is the pen name of three long-time Texas friends. James R. Dennis is a former attorney turned Dominican friar who lives in San Antonio. Brent Douglass is an international businessman from Austin. John T. Davis, also of Austin, is a journalist and author. Together, as “Miles,” they have been featured authors at the Texas Book Festival, the San Antonio Book Festival, and the Lubbock Book Festival.

Connect with Miles:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

Giveaway

Grand Prize: Autographed copies of all five Gulf Coast series books by Miles Arceneaux + a copy of Geoff Winningham’s Traveling the Shore of the Spanish Sea — The Gulf Coast of Texas and Mexico

Two Runners-Up: Each win an autographed copy of Hidden Sea

October 11-October 20, 2017

U.S. Only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit the other great blogs on the Hidden Sea tour:

10/11	promo	Texas Book Lover
10/12	Review	Forgotten Winds
10/12	ICYWW #1	Bibliotica
10/13	Review	Missus Gonzo
10/14	Excerpt 1	Syd Savvy
10/14	Author Interview	A Page Before Bedtime
10/15	Review	Texan Girl Reads
10/16	Guest Post	StoreyBook Reviews
10/16	ICYWW #2	Chapter Break Book Blog
10/17	Review	Hall Ways Blog
10/18	Excerpt 2	Books and Broomsticks
10/18	Playlist	The Page Unbound
10/19	Review	Reading By Moonlight
10/20	Review	Tangled in Text
10/20	ICYWW #3	The Librarian Talks

Review: The Other Alcott, by Elise Hooper

9 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, The Other Alcott

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (September 5, 2017)

Named one of POPSUGAR’s 25 Books to Read This Fall!

Elise Hooper’s debut novel conjures the fascinating, untold story of May Alcott—Louisa’s youngest sister and an artist in her own right.

We all know the story of the March sisters, heroines of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa herself, Amy March is often the least favorite sister. Now, it’s time to learn the truth about the real “Amy”, Louisa’s sister, May.

Stylish, outgoing, creative, May Alcott grows up longing to experience the wide world beyond Concord, Massachusetts. While her sister Louisa crafts stories, May herself is a talented and dedicated artist, taking lessons in Boston, turning down a marriage proposal from a well-off suitor, and facing scorn for entering what is very much a man’s profession.

Life for the Alcott family has never been easy, so when Louisa’s Little Women is published, its success eases the financial burdens they’d faced for so many years. Everyone agrees the novel is charming, but May is struck to the core by the portrayal of selfish, spoiled “Amy March.” Is this what her beloved sister really thinks of her?

So May embarks on a quest to discover her own true identity, as an artist and a woman. From Boston to Rome, London, and Paris, this brave, talented, and determined woman forges an amazing life of her own, making her so much more than merely “The Other Alcott.”

Praise for The Other Alcott:

“Elise Hooper’s thoroughly modern debut gives a fresh take on one of literature’s most beloved families. To read this book is to understand why the women behind Little Women continue to cast a long shadow on our imaginations and dreams. Hooper is a writer to watch!”—Elisabeth Egan, author of A Window Opens

Buy, read, and discuss The Other Alcott:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Elise Hooper

Though a New Englander by birth (and at heart), Elise Hooper lives with her husband and two young daughters in Seattle, where she teaches history and literature.

Connect with Elise:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

My Thoughts

When I was six or seven, my mother and I started reading Little Women, a chapter a night, as we had every book until then. It was the last book we read that way, because my reading ability had finally progressed enough that the tiny print and paper-thin pages (it was all three of the March sisters’ novels in one volume) posed no challenge to me, and a chapter a night was no longer enough.

Like most fans of those books, I wanted to be Jo March. There are times when I still want to be Jo. But I never disliked Amy, and when I was given the chance to read The Other Alcott, a novelization of May Alcott’s (the model for Amy) life, I jumped at it. There might even have been begging involved.

I was not disappointed.

Author Elise Hooper has taken a massive amount of research and turned it into an engaging novel that gives us a glimpse at the youngest Alcott sister. As well, she shows how May and her fictional counterpart are similar, and how they are different.

While some of the connections May makes in this novel are merely supposition; others are true to life. Mary Cassatt, whose art I’ve loved ever since I learned what Impressionism was, was both a contemporary and a friend. May spent a lot of time in Europe, making the French countryside her home – and I find myself a bit envious.

Part biography, part love story (May has a great love come into her life when he’s in her mid-thirties – old for the time) and entirely engaging, The Other Alcott exists in that area between pure fact and total fiction. It’s truthful even when the author has extrapolated information (or even just made stuff up) and it feels like a much-needed addition to the library of any Louisa May Alcott fan.

Goes well with hot tea served in hand-painted china cups, and scones with jam and clotted cream.

Tour Stops

Thursday, September 7th: History From a Woman’s Perspective

Friday, September 8th: Tina Says…

Wednesday, September 13th: Jathan & Heather

Thursday, September 14th: History from a Woman’s Perspective

Monday, September 18th: Lit.Wit.Wine.Dine.

Thursday, September 21st: bookchickdi

Friday, September 22nd: A Bookish Affair

Monday, September 25th: Literary Lindsey

Tuesday, September 26th: BookNAround

Wednesday, September 27th: She’s All Booked

Thursday, September 28th: Openly Bookish

Friday, September 29th: Books and Bindings

Tuesday, October 3rd: View From the Birdhouse

Wednesday, October 4th: A Chick Who Reads

Monday, October 9th: Bibliotica

Wednesday, October 11th: A Literary Vacation

TBD: Unabridged Chick

TBD: Into the Hall of Books

Review: Last Christmas in Paris, by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

5 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, Last Christmas in Paris

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 3, 2017)

New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.

August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…

Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?

Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…

Buy, read and discuss Last Christmas in Paris:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the authors, Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

HAZEL GAYNOR is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Memory of Violets and The Girl Who Came Home, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. Her third novel The Girl from the Savoy was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail Canada bestseller, and was shortlisted for the BGE Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year.

Hazel was selected by US Library Journal as one of ‘Ten Big Breakout Authors’ for 2015 and her work has been translated into several languages.

Originally from Yorkshire, England, Hazel now lives in Ireland.

Connect with Hazel:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

HEATHER WEBB writes historical fiction for Penguin, including her novels Becoming Josephine and Rodin’s Lover.

As a former military brat, Heather naturally grew up obsessed with travel, culture, and languages. She put her degrees to good use teaching high school French for nearly a decade before channeling these passions into fiction. When not writing, she flexes her foodie skills or looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.

Heather is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

Connect with Heather:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

As genres go, epistolary fiction is woefully underrepresented, but that’s probably because it’s really difficult to do well. In this novel, Last Christmas in Paris, authors Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb blew away all my fears, and gave me – gave all of us – a delightful read in the process.

While I enjoyed the novel as a whole, and nearly fell in love with Tom myself, it was Evie’s story that really gripped me. So many writers have the women just staying home when they write novels set during wartime, but Gaynor and Webb made their female lead into a woman with drive and determination, as well as a career, and friends that were separate from the circle of people she and Tom knew collectively. It’s so important to represent women as whole, dimensional beings, and these authors did so exceptionally well.

I felt the descriptions of places and people within this novel were incredibly cinematic, and I can easily imagine this story on the big screen as a Merchant Ivory production. As well, I felt that, despite things like the final letter being read at Christmastime in Paris, this novel managed to stay grounded in reality. It’s essentially an historical romance, yes, but it’s one grounded in reality, and the characters are incredibly human and flawed.

If you’re a sucker for a well-written letter, if you hoard stationery ‘just to have,’ as I do, or if you’re simply in the mood for a sentimental (but never sappy) love story, Last Christmas in Paris is the novel for you.

Goes well with hot chocolate and those ‘Danish’ butter cookies they sell in tins around holiday times.

Tour Stops

Tuesday, October 3rd: Into the Hall of Books

Wednesday, October 4th: Back Porchervations

Thursday, October 5th: Bibliotica

Friday, October 6th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Monday, October 9th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Monday, October 9th: Reading Reality

Tuesday, October 10th: A Bookish Way of Life

Monday, October 16th: BookNAround

Tuesday, October 17th: Jathan & Heather

Wednesday, October 18th: Girl Who Reads

Wednesday, October 18th: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, October 19th: Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Friday, October 20th: Books and Bindings

Monday, October 23rd: West Metro Mommy

Review: Equal Opportunity Hero by Phil Price

4 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book, Equal Opportunity Hero: T.J. Patterson’s Service to West Texas

Texas Tech University Press (November, 2017)
277 Pages

On April 7, 1984, T. J. Patterson became the first African American elected to the Lubbock City Council, winning handily over his four opponents. It was a position he would go on to hold for more than twenty years, and his natural leadership would lead him to state and national recognition.

Patterson grew up during a time of American social unrest, protest, and upheaval, and he recounts memorable instances of segregation and integration in West Texas. As a two-year-old, he survived polio when African Americans were excluded from “whites only” hospitals. When he attempted to enroll at Texas Tech after graduating from all-black Bishop College, he was not allowed even to enter the administration building–the president would speak with him only outside, and then only to say Patterson could not be enrolled. Two years later, his aunt would become the first African American to attend Texas Tech.

Patterson spent his whole adult life as a grassroots activist, and as a city councilman he understood how important it was to work in solid partnership with representatives from the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods of the city. Over the years, Patterson took every opportunity to join African American and Hispanic forces, but with a few exceptions, the traditional geographic divide of the minority population limited his efforts–and yet Patterson never gave up. His brave public marches to homes of known drug dealers brought attention to their undesirable activities. Patterson also supported city investment in Lubbock history and culture, plus new development activity, from annexation to paved roads to water mains to fire stations. During his long career he truly was an equal-opportunity hero for all of Lubbock’s citizens.

Buy, read, and discuss Equal Opportunity Hero:

About the author, Phil Price

Phil Price has been friends with T. J. Patterson for more than twenty years. Now retired, Price was President and CEO of a marketing and design agency. Over the years he has served the Lubbock Independent School District, the Lubbock Better Business Bureau, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, and other city agencies. He lives in Lubbock USA, with his wife, Victoria.

My Thoughts:

As someone who isn’t native to Texas, I always enjoy learning more about the people who helped to form the the state, or who were instrumental in its politics and culture over the decades. T.J. Patterson is one of the latter, and the author, his friend Phil Price, paints a picture of him that is vibrant and interesting, but also extremely real.

I appreciated that this biography was not a dry academic treatise, but a real glimpse into Patterson’s life, from his time at Bishop College (a black college) and beyond, Price shows him to be intelligent, witty, and somewhat self-deprecating, but also extremely self-aware.

Patterson is quoted extensively, to the point where it almost feels like his own voice outshines that of author Price, but maybe that’s how it should be. After all a biographer’s job is not to take the spotlight, but to put their subject in it. And in this book Patterson shines, not only in the glow of his own achievements but in the obvious affection and respect the author has for him.

As the child of activists, and someone who has been involved in her own causes since the age of twelve – not all the same causes, of course – I understand what it is to stand for the things you believe in, and I came away from this book knowing more about Texas, about how the civil rights movement was received in Texas, and about a fundamental player in recent Texas history.

Goes well with a tall glass of sweet tea and a baked potato stuffed with brisket.

CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

10/3	Promo	Tangled in Text
10/4	Review	Bibliotica
10/5	Promo	Missus Gonzo
10/6	Review	A Page Before Bedtime
10/7	Author Interview	StoreyBook Reviews
10/8	Promo	Texas Book Lover
10/9	Review	Hall Ways Blog
10/10	Excerpt	Texan Girl Reads
10/11	Review	Reading By Moonlight
10/12	Promo	Chapter Break Book Blog

Review: Caroline: Little House, Revisted, by Sarah Miller – with Giveaway

27 September 2017 by Melissa

About the book, Caroline

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (September 19, 2017)

A September Indie Next Pick

One of Refinery29’s Best Reads of September

In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, “Ma” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books.

In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.

The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

For more than eighty years, generations of readers have been enchanted by the adventures of the American frontier’s most famous child, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in the Little House books. Now, that familiar story is retold in this captivating tale of family, fidelity, hardship, love, and survival that vividly re-imagines our past.

Buy, read, and discuss Caroline:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Sarah Miller

Sarah Miller began writing her first novel at the age of ten, and has spent the last two decades working in libraries and bookstores. She is the author of two previous historical novels, Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller and The Lost Crown. Her nonfiction debut, The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century, was hailed by the New York Times as “a historical version of Law & Order.” She lives in Michigan.

Connect with Sarah:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

My Thoughts

Sometimes a book falls into your life at exactly the right time, and that’s what happened to me with this book, Caroline: Little House, Revisited.

While I typically start looking for scary reads around this time of year, we’ve had some family events that stirred my need for warmth and comfort in my reading, and what could be more comforting than a novel that tells the familiar story of Little House on the Prairie, in a new and unfamiliar way: it’s not written for children, and it’s from Ma’s – that’s the Caroline in the book – point of view.

What I appreciated was that author Sarah Miller’s use of language, while sophisticated, managed to stay in a tone that was reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s original books. This gave the story an air of authenticity, and also made it feel like the literary equivalent of home. I wasn’t transported to the bedroom in Georgetown, CO that I inhabited as a seven-year-old reading through all the novels, but I did have the sense that I was visiting a former hometown and seeing it through adult eyes.

I also really liked the glimpses of the physical intimacy – little touches – between Caroline and Charles. We don’t see a lot of their relationship in Wilder’s books, but Miller had the room to play a bit, and as a result both of the adult Ingallses are made more dimensional, and even – dare I say it? more human.

One thing that struck me was that Miller gave Caroline a lot of agency. She could have prevented – or at least delayed – the initial move from the Big Woods of Wisconsin to the Kansas prairie, but chose not to.

Those who are only familiar with the books will notice that this story is more true to the facts of the Ingalls’ life than to Wilder’s novels, which fictionalized her life. Baby Carrie, for example, is not yet born at the star of the book.

While this book is most likely to appeal to people like me, who are big fans of All Things Laura, I think it would be a satisfying read for almost anyone who likes historical fiction or Americana.

Goes well with fresh, hot cornbread with tart cherry jam, and hot coffee.

Giveaway

One lucky reader in the US can get a copy of this book. How? Leave a comment on this post (make sure you put a valid email in the box for it) telling me about your own experiences with the Little House books. Or if you haven’t read them, tell me what book series is like home to you.

(You can also find my tweet about this post, and retweet it for a second entry – I’m @melysse.)

Deadline is 11:59 PM CDT on Friday, October 6th. Winner will be notified by email.

Tour Stops

Tuesday, September 19th: StephTheBookworm

Wednesday, September 20th: BookExpression

Thursday, September 21st: Into the Hall of Books

Tuesday, September 26th: Tina Says…

Wednesday, September 27th: BookNAround

Wednesday, September 27th: Bibliotica

Thursday, September 28th: Unabridged Chick

Monday, October 2nd: Lit.Wit.Wine.Dine.

Tuesday, October 3rd: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, October 4th: A Bookworm’s World

Thursday, October 5th: Jathan & Heather

Friday, October 6th: A Bookish Affair

Monday, October 9th: View from the Birdhouse

TBD: History from a Woman’s Perspective

Review: Sugar Pine Trail, by RaeAnne Thayne

26 September 2017 by Melissa

About the book, Sugar Pine Trail

Print Length: 352 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (October 1, 2017)
Publication Date: September 26, 2017

Fans of the wildly popular Haven Point series won’t want to miss SUGAR PINE TRAIL (HQN Books; on-sale October 2017), the latest novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne. In this heartwarming holiday romance, unexpected attraction between two polar opposites might just make for the best match yet.

Haven Point librarian Julia Winston has spent most of her life taking care of other people. Now she’s 32 years old and feeling restless for the first time, banging around a big empty house with no one to share it with. In an effort to break free from her life of quiet complacency, Julia finds herself making a list of all the things she wants to do while she still has the chance—including getting a puppy, learning to ski, and kissing someone under the mistletoe. That someone, however, is most certainly not Jamie Caine, a military pilot who is temporarily renting a room in Julia’s home. Wary of Jamie’s blinding good looks and his reputation as the town’s resident heartbreaker, Julia puts up all her charm defenses, while the handsome pilot tries his best to steer clear of his mousy landlady (who, he has to admit, has some pretty stunning eyes).

But when Julia suddenly finds herself taking care of two young brothers in need, she and Jamie will come together to make an unforgettable holiday for the boys. Along the way, Jamie will learn that Julia has more spunk than she lets on, and Julia will realize that Jamie has more depth than she gave him credit for. Together, this unlikely pair will discover they have more in common than they ever imagined—all while fighting a powerful attraction that becomes more and more difficult to deny.

Set against a backdrop of mistletoe, lakeside lights, and Haven Point’s stunning snowy mountains, SUGAR PINE TRAIL makes for perfect winter reading this holiday season.

Buy, read, and discuss Sugar Pine Trail:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads

About the author, RaeAnne Thayne

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne loves words. Her love affair started as soon as she learned to read, when she used to devour anything she could get her hands on: cereal boxes, encyclopedias, the phone book, you name it! She loves the way words sound, the way they look on the page, and the amazing way they can be jumbled together in so many combinations to tell a story.

Her love of reading and writing those words led her to a fifteen-year career in journalism as a newspaper reporter and editor.

Through it all, she dreamed of writing the kind of stories she loved best. She sold her first book in 1995 and since then she’s published more than 40 titles. Her books have won many honors, including three RITA® Award nominations from the Romance Writers of America and a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews.

RaeAnne finds inspiration in the rugged northern Utah mountains, where she lives with her hero of a husband and their children. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

My Thoughts

It may seem like late September is a bit early to be reading books set during the winter holidays, but trust me, when it’s 90 degrees outside at ten in the morning, and you live in a place where snow is infrequent, at best, reading holiday fiction is a way to keep cool.

Keeping cool was a bit difficult while reading RaeAnne Thayne’s newest Haven Point novel, Sugar Pine Trail, because the story of 32-year-old librarian Julia Winston and military pilot Jamie Caine, who is renting the flat she’s carved out of her family manse, is warm and cozy, and everything that’s perfect for a holiday read.

What I loved was the way author Thayne has created an entire world in Haven Point. I haven’t read the other novels in the series, but I still felt as though I was coming home to a familiar place in this snowy mountain town. In fact, many of the scenes reminded me of my own childhood sojourn in Georgetown, CO.

Julia and Jamie’s story is a classic tale of “opposites attract” – she’s a bit scattered, he’s incredibly precise. The family cats don’t like her, but love him. (She’s clearly a dog person, like me.). As their relationship evolves, so, too, do their responsibilities, eventually leading to becoming caretakers to two young boys who desperately need some holiday cheer.

It sounds as sweet as a Hallmark movie, I know (and that’s not a bad thing; I happen to indulge in Hallmark Movie weekends from time to time), but Thayne keeps her story grounded in common sense and humor, which keeps it only sweet, and never saccharine.

Goes well with hot chocolate, stirred with a peppermint stick, and Milano cookies.