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FIND YOURSELF…IN THE PAST BY VERONICA JORGE

If you’ve ever thought of history as boring, you don’t know what you’re missing!

The Reluctant Groom and Other Historical Stories by Faith L. Justice s a collection of four intriguing tales that will move you to tears, renew your faith in true love, inspire bravery in you, and make you think twice about parting with an old antique.

The Reluctant Groom, the first story, portrays a sad, lonely and confirmed bachelor brought back to life by the power of love.

The Bitter Winter reminds us of the heart-breaking events that force peoples to migrate; the sacrifices they make for their families, and the risks they take to ensure their future.

In the third story, The Jar, Justice draws attention to the varied and important roles that women have played since the dawn of time, yet are often relegated to a footnote in history.

The final story in the collection, The Angel of the Marshes, highlights the contributions that children have made, frequently shouldering responsibilities like adults and demonstrating creativity and bravery.

The Reluctant Groom and Other Historical Stories will transform you in Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange to a historical fiction reader, and a Faith L. Justice fan.

Take the plunge and find your own self in the past!

See you next time on September 22nd.

THE RELUCTANT GROOM AND OTHER HISTORICAL STORIES

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BOOK REVIEW: The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club by Holly Tierney-Bedord

June 27, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, crafts, drama, Friendship, Holly Tierney-Bedord, jewelry, murder, mystery, romance, women's fiction

Mmmrrh … pull up a chair and settle in to make jewelry as you chat and bond, lick wounds and discover new doors, break up and fall in love … and unravel a mystery with the women of The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club by Holly Tierney-Bedord.

From the Amazon Description:

It’s been five years since the idyllic oceanside town of Port Elspeth was rocked by tragedy. Shortly after their high school graduation, Evangeline Maddingly, daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest old-money families, and Oliver Prescott, son of one of the town’s wealthiest new-money families, were found dead in an isolated cabin in the woods outside of town. The circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths are murky at best, thanks in large part to a coroner with connections to the town’s founding families and a sweeping effort from those in power to shut down any negative publicity that could harm the reputation of their pristine community.

~Five years later~

A small group of strangers gather to create jewelry for one of Port Elspeth’s many fundraisers. Before long, friendships are forming and old secrets are being revealed. Along with solving the mystery of how to make a perfect pair of chandelier earrings or cabochon necklace, these unlikely friends find themselves at the heart of solving the murders that took place half a decade earlier.

This book sweeps you away with shades of The Jane Austen Book Club and piques your interest in ways reminiscent of The Bletchley Circle. As the women meet, ostensibly to make jewelry, they learn about their own lives and loves and make decisions that change everything. And one of those decisions is to solve an unsolved murder in the community.

The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club follows the lives of six women – one teenager, one woman in her twenties, two women in their thirties, one woman in her fifties, and one woman in her seventies. We become immersed in their relationships with lovers and family members in all their glory and ignominy. This comfortably intimate novel makes you feel as if you are a part of the club as you piece together dangly earrings, smile at a new friend you feel like you’ve known forever, cringe at flashes of boorishness, and feel chills slide down your neck as you realize a killer is on the loose from a murder that no one ever tried to solve. After all, to delve into the crime, in a place such as Port Elspeth, involving such renowned families, just would have been too, too gauche. But Cadence, the founder of the club, is new to town. And all the other club members have quirks in their lives that allow these craft club meetings to turn into stealthy investigations.

What begins as a compelling voyage into the lives of six very different women escalates into an edge-of-your seat hunt for a killer! Because whether it is fashioning bracelets or making justice happen, these women get the job done. In The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club, jewelry, and life, is what you make of it, with your own talent and instinct, but more importantly, with the love and support of others.

Holly Tierney-Bedord, a gifted story-teller, has given us yet another gem!

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CAREFUL WHAT YOU READ BY VERONICA JORGE

June 22, 2018 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as book review, The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winnawer, Veronica Jorge

Be Careful what you read. You might get carried away.

Time travel, suspense, history, political intrigue, murder and romance; The Scribe of Siena has something for every reader.

Transported back to the past and trapped in the Middle Ages, New York surgeon, Beatrice Trovato, is hard pressed to navigate the arteries of Siena, Italy…on the verge of the plague.

And a newly developed empathic power gives her more information than she knows what to do with, forcing her to seek answers beyond her normal world of intellect and science.

But more than that, The Scribe of Siena is a search for identity and belonging.

So many people are searching for their roots via DNA, Ancestry, and Genealogy sites, and are thrilled when they discover a part of themselves that they never knew. Visiting an ancestral country and wearing ethnic clothing often follow.

Like the true surgeon she is, Melodie Winawer takes her character further and deeper. Beatrice’s real journey is out of the brain and into her heart, where she discovers that love is a power that tra Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange nscends time and space. Now she must decide whether she belongs in the uncertainty and danger of Middle Age Siena, or back with her friends and lucrative medical practice in New York City.

Beatrice’s last name, Trovato, which means “found” should give you a clue of how things turn out. But the actual story, you’ll have to read for yourself.

And for those of you who prefer to travel light; The Scribe of Siena is also available in paperback.

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Celebrating Indies with Their Own Magazine: InD’Tale

May 15, 2014 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as book review, promotion, publicity

InD’Tale’s TJ MacKay & me

Recently, I met T.J. MacKay, the brilliant, savvy blonde and very vivacious lady behind the new on-line magazine, InD’Tale. The magazine is for readers and indie authors, blending industry information with behind-the-scenes looks at the writing life. Her passion for those folks who forge the road less traveled with their literary vision and are now paving it with their talent, is unparalleled. Her emphasis on romance is just the tip of the iceberg. For Mothers Day, here is an interview with a lady who just gave birth to a magazine every author should read.

Rebecca: InD’Tale is a great play on words. Why the focus on Indie Authors?

T.J.: When Indie was just starting to boom, there was no really credible platform in the industry for all the talented authors. I wanted to provide the singular place where they could learn some of the tricks of the trade and be celebrated through interviews and reviews.

Rebecca: To follow up on the word play, is there such a thing as an Indie Reader?

T.J.: Almost everyone could be considered an â€œIndie Readers.â€ I donâ€™t think readers give a hoot whether a book has a publishers stamp on it or not – they just want a really good, well-crafted story.

Rebecca: Tell me about two articles in upcoming issues – one for authors and one for readers.

T.J.: Mark Coker of Smashwords.com – one of the first to celebrate indie authors – just signed on to be a re-occurring contributor. He has an article on the way in June. We are finishing up a great three part series on screenwriting by one of Hollywood’s newest talents. For readers (as well as authors) we have a behind the scenes look at an industry photo shoot that takes us step by step through the process of creating amazing book covers We do an in-depth feature interview on a favorite best selling author each month. This is done in a personal, conversational style so readers can really get to know the author … oh goodness, I could go on and on!

Rebecca: You specifically talk to USA Today and NYT bestsellers for your in-depth interviews. Why?

T.J.: The feature interview is a 7 – 8 page layout, so the highlighted author needs to have the experience and credentials to be able to help teach those who are working to achieve that same level of success.

Rebecca: Do you know the requirements for an indie author to hit those lists so we can try really hard?

T.J.: The NY Times requires sales in multiple venues, which – when traditional was the only way to go – seemed fair and reasonable. Now that Indie is such a huge portion of the industry, however, itâ€™s become quite a conundrum for them. Indie authors are making money but it is from one or two distributors (almost always Amazon) which doesnâ€™t qualify them. I asked the Vice-President of Amazon about it and he said, â€œUntil we can convince New York to change their policy, authors may be faced with a choice: get rich or get on the list.â€ I think this will eventually change.

Rebecca: How do you choose the books you’ll review?

T.J.: As of right now, we review all books that are submitted and qualify. You can see our guidelines on the website. We review between 80 – 100 books a month and are working two months out right now.

Rebecca: Who are your reviewers?

T.J.: Currently, we have 24 reviewers. All have professional credentials and are strictly screened and trained. Professional reviews require a reviewer to set aside their personal views and look at a book from a strictly objective point of view. We have very specific guidelines that must be adhered to in order to maintain consistency and credibility. I also randomly read some of the books that are being reviewed to make sure that standard stays consistent.

Rebecca: Your emphasis is romance. Will you review other genres?

T.J.: Actually our emphasis is NOT just on romance. We review almost all genres and require only that there be a romantic thread within the story.

Rebecca: Are you or have you ever been an author? You are pretty darn passionate about books.

T.J.: Actually, Iâ€™m just pretty darn passionate about people and books! I doubt I’ll ever write a book. I was a journalist and my passion is in helping incredible authors become successful. Iâ€™m also an avid reader. I read an average of 5 to 6 books a week just to keep up!

Rebecca: What else do we need to know abut the TJ MacKay brand and the way you want to bring readers and authors together?

TJ: The most important thing to know about me is how deeply and sincerely I want to help talented authors find success and readers find the books that will spark their love of reading. It truly is a passion. Only those who have felt that drive to write, no matter what it is they write, can honestly understand how deeply that desire can run. Every single thing we do at InDâ€™tale is for that one purpose.

Find T.J. at: http://www.indtale.com

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Book Review: Strait of Hormuz by Davis Bunn

November 10, 2013 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as book review, Davis Bunn, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, Strait of Hormuz

It is with great pleasure that I participate this week in Davis Bunn’s blog tour for his newest book, Strait of Hormuz! I’ve been looking forward to reading this third installment in the Marc Royce thriller series because I loved Lion of Babylon (which is free on Amazon this month!) and Rare Earth, the first two books.

Marc Royce is a former CIA operative who still does “odd jobs” for his old boss, Ambassador Walton. He has been in dangerous situations all over the world, and he’s incredibly good at his job. But things are changing in his personal life, and just maybe he wants to live long enough to make some big decisions.

While struggling to find out where the new threat to America is coming from, sometimes at odds with his own government, Marc meets a really interesting array of people – a Swiss operative and a Swiss police inspector, a Persian art dealer, a knighted English art collector, and many more, as well as several people he’s worked with in the past. (I love it when you see characters appear in multiple books. It feels like you get to know them better.)

I loved all the action from the very first page. It gets off to a quicker start than the first book, which I almost didn’t read because I was bored by the political talk at the beginning. In Strait of Hormuz, I was hooked immediately and soo glad I’d set aside an uninterrupted afternoon to read. It was so fun to try to figure out what was happening as Marc and his cohorts were trying to do the same.

Without giving anything away, I was also really glad when Marc and one of the other characters finally sat down and decided to pray about what to do, and to pray for each other instead of just for the impossible thing they wanted. It seemed like they finally had a minute to put their faith in action in their relationship. Granted, there was an awful lot of trying not to get killed going on – LOL! – so I was okay that it took them awhile to finally sit down together.

I really enjoyed Strait of Hormuz, but not quite as much as the first two books. For one thing, this was the first of the three where twice I stopped and re-read what was happening. I wasn’t sure how we just went from point N to point P, so I just shrugged and made a mental leap and kept on going. It wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t confusing so much as it felt like I missed part of an explanation of what was happening.

Also, this was the first of the three books where the fact that Marc kept running into people with a Christian faith and/or background seemed less believable as the book went along. This element was one of the things I liked most about the first book, Lion of Babylon – that Marc found a few Christians who understood him and helped him in places you wouldn’t expect. It seemed real and natural in the first two books, but this time…I don’t know.

StraitofHormuzSweepstakesGraphicforLaunchTeam

Other than those small things, I had a great time reading this book. Davis is so good at weaving action and thrills through a story, keeping you guessing the whole way! If you want to read the first three chapters for free, click here and “Like” his Facebook page, and you’ll see the beginning of the book there for you to read. Trust me, you won’t want to stop!

4 stars, Really Liked It

Help Davis Bunn celebrate the publication of â€œStrait of Hormuz.â€ Enter to win His & Hers Luxury Swiss Watches or a $150 Amazon Gift Card! You can enter once per email address per day. Rack up bonus entries by sharing the contest with your Facebook and Twitter friends!

I received a complimentary copy of Strait of Hormuz from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Kitty Bucholtz decided to combine her undergraduate degree in business, her years of experience in accounting and finance, and her graduate degree in creative writing to become a writer-turned-independent-publisher. Her first novel, Little Miss Lovesick, came out in 2011. Her new novel, Unexpected Superhero, book one in The Adventures of Lewis & Clarke humorous urban fantasy series, is now available in print and ebook format. Love at the Fluff and Fold, book one in The Strays of Loon Lake romantic comedy series, will be released later this year. Her short stories can be found in the anthologies Romancing the Pages and Moonlit Encounters, available in both print and ebook formats.