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Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Famous in a Small Town by Viola Shipman

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN by Viola Shipman on this HTP Books Summer 2023 Blog Tour.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Summary

Fried Green Tomatoes meets Midnight at the Blackbird Café in USA Today bestselling author Viola Shipman’s FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN, a heartwarming story about intergenerational friendship and self-discovery, set in beautiful Northern Michigan.

In 1958, 15-year-old Mary Jackson became the first woman ever crowned The Cherry Pit Spittin’ Champion of Good Hart, Michigan, landing her in the Guinness Book of World Records, and earning her the nickname Cherry Mary. Nearly 80 years old at the story’s start, Mary runs The Very Cherry General Store, a business that has been passed through three generations of women in the family. While there is no female next of kin, Mary believes the fourth is fated to arrive, as predicted by “Fata Morgana,” a Lake Michigan mirage of four women walking side by side.

Becky Thatcher (yes, like the Mark Twain character), an Assistant Principal from St. Louis, has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend and heads to Good Hart for a healing girl’s trip with her best friend. When Becky drunkenly spits a cherry pit an impressive distance, Mary urges her to enter the upcoming contest, and wonders if Becky could be the woman she’s been waiting for.

Bursting with memorable characters and small-town lore, FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is a magical story about the family you’re born with, and the one you choose.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62197591-famous-in-a-small-town?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=DazqmI3wX4&rank=3

Famous in a Small Town

Author: Viola Shipman

Publisher: Graydon House

Paperback Original

ISBN 978-1525804854

Price: $18.99

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN by Viola Shipman is a wonderful women’s fiction story with romantic elements that is full of Michigan summertime vacation nostalgia, generational family drama, the bonds of friendship, and the discovery and belief in the power of women all delivered with a cherry on top. This is the perfect summertime read, especially if you are a fan of all things tart cherry.

Mary Jackson became “Cherry Mary” as a girl of fifteen when she won the cherry pit spitting distance contest in her small hometown of Good Hart, not only beating all the men, but also obtaining the Guinness World Record. Sixty-five years later, she is now eighty years old, still undefeated and runs her family’s Very Cherry General Store and waits for the girl she was told in her visions would come to carry on.

Becky Thatcher has turned forty and feels stuck in a monotonous life, with nothing to show for it. She and her best friend, “Q” take off for a vacation in Good Hart to relive the fun childhood holidays she remembers with her grandparents. When Becky spits a cherry pit, Mary witnesses the record breaker and believes Becky is the girl she has been waiting for. While not the vacation she was expecting, Becky works under Mary’s wing and soon discovers peace and beauty in the small town and the belief that Mary may be right, and this is where she is meant to be.

Enchanting, emotional, and memorable characters and landscapes are all present in this story. It is summertime memories, trips with grandparents, small town nostalgia all intertwined with everything tart cherry. The strength and power of women is a recurring theme throughout. The sweet romance is a relatively small subplot in this story, but it is relevant to both main characters. I feel this is the perfect summertime read and I loved it.

I highly recommend this very cherry women’s fiction!

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Excerpt

THE LAKE EFFECT EXPRESS

August 1958

“Good News from Good Hart!”

by Shirley Ann Potter

It was the spit heard ’round the world!

Our town is still atwitter over the news that the daughter of Mr. Peter Jackson was crowned the 35th Annual Cherry Pit Spittin’ Champion of Leelanau and Emmet County last Saturday. Fifteen-year-old Mary Jackson, an Emmet County high-school sophomore, was not only the first woman—uh, girl—to win the contest, but her stone flew a Guinness Book of World Records–breaking distance of ninety-three feet six-and-a-half inches, shattering the previous record set by “Too Tall” Fred Jones in 1898 at the state’s very first Cherry Championship right here in Good Hart.

News of her accomplishment has flown farther than her cherry pit, with reporters from as far away as New York and London anointing our town sprite with the moniker “Cherry Mary.”

I caught up with Mary at the Very Cherry General Store—our beloved post office/grocery store/sandwich-

and-soda-shop run by Mary’s mother and grandmother—to see how she managed such a Herculean feat.

“My mom taught me to whistle when I was a kid (“A kid!” Don’t you just love that, readers?), and I had to be loud enough for her to hear me when she was down at the lake. I think that made my lips strong,” Mary says. “And I started eating sunflower seeds when I was fishing on the boat with my grandma. She taught me how to spit them without having the wind blow them back in the boat.”

Mary says she practiced for the contest by standing in the middle of M-119—the road that houses our beautiful Tunnel of Trees—and spitting stones into the wind when a storm was brewing on Lake Michigan.

“I knew if I could make it a far piece into the wind, I could do it when it was still.”

While her grandmother was “over the moon” for Mary’s feat, saying, “It’s about time,” Mr. Jackson says of his daughter’s accomplishment, “It’s certainly unusual for a girl, but Mary isn’t your average girl. Maybe all this got it out of her system, so to speak. I hope so for her sake.”

The plucky teenager seems nonplussed by the attention, despite seeing her face all over northern Michigan in the papers and the T-shirts featuring her face—cheeks puffed, stone leaving her mouth—and the words Cherry Mary in bright red over the image.

“A girl can do anything a man can,” Mary says in between retrieving mail, spreading mayonnaise on a tomato sandwich and twirling a cherry around in her mouth, before perfectly depositing the stone in a trash can across the room. “You just gotta believe you can. That’s the hard part. Harder than spitting any old pit.”

Mary seems ready to conquer the world, readers. Cheers, Cherry Mary! Our hometown heroine!

*******

BECKY

June 2023

“Okay, Benjie, would you like it if Ashley did this to you?”

He scrunches up his face to stave off tears and shakes his head. “No.”

“Well, it’s not a nice thing to do.”

I study Ashley’s hair, then take her face in my hands. “It’s going to be okay. Trust me?”

The little girl nods her head. I give her a hug.

I walk over to my desk and open the bottom drawer . There is a large jar of creamy peanut butter sitting next to a bag of mini Snickers. The peanut butter is for emergencies like this: removing gum from a little girls’ hair. The Snickers are for me after I’m finished with this life lesson.

“Well, I’m just glad neither of you are allergic to peanuts,” I say. “Allows me to do this.”

I cover the gum stuck in the back of Ashley’s pretty, long, blond hair and then look at her.

“I promise this works,” I say. “I’ve performed a lot of gum surgery.”

She nods. Her eyes are red from crying, her cheeks blotchy.

“Why did you do this, Benjie?” I ask the little boy seated in the chair before my desk.

He ducks his head sheepishly, his brown bangs falling into his eyes, and murmurs something into his chest.

“I didn’t catch that,” I say. “What did you say? Remember it’s okay to express your emotions.”

He looks at me, freckles twitching on his cheeks. “I can’t say,” he whispers.

“Yes, you can,” I say. “Don’t make this any worse than it already is.”

Benjie glances toward the door to ensure that it is closed. “Tyler Evans told me to do it or he’d punch me on the way home.”

Being a grade-school administrator is akin to being a detective: you have to work the perp to get the truth. Eventually—no matter the age—they break, especially when a verdict on punishment is waiting in the balance.

It’s the last day of school. Benjie does not want his summer to be ruined.

I lean down and slide the gum out of Ashley’s hair. I go to my sink, dampen a cloth and put some dish soap on it, return and clean the rest of the peanut butter off her locks. I move to a tall filing cabinet and retrieve a clean brush. The filing cabinet is filled with bags of sealed brushes and combs, toothbrushes and EpiPens, certificates and old laptops. I run the brush through her hair. I hold up a mirror for her to see the back of her head.

“See, good as new.”

“What do you say to Ashley, Benjie?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you accept his apology?”

Ashley shakes her head no. “You ruined the last day of school. You’re a big ol’ meanie.”

“Ashley,” I say, my tone sweet but authoritarian.

“I accept your apology,” she says.

“You’re free to go,” I say to her.

“But you’re still a big ol’ poop head,” she says, racing out of my office, bubblegum-free hair bouncing.

I actually have to clench my hands very hard to stifle a laugh.

Big ol’ poop head.

How many times a day would I—would any adult—like to scream that at someone?

“Are you telling my parents?” Benjie asks.

“I have to,” I say, “but I’ll tell them why you did it, and then I’ll have a talk with Tyler.”

“No!”

“I have to do that, too,” I explain. “And I’ll talk to his parents as well.”

He looks at me, his chin quivering.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy here for bullying,” I say. “Trust me, Tyler won’t do it again. You have to stand up to bullies. You have to show them the right way to do things. Otherwise, they never change.”

In addition to being a detective, an assistant principal is also akin to being the vice-president of the United States. Everyone knows your name, everyone knows you’ve achieved some level of status, but nobody really understands what the hell you do all day.

“I promise it will be okay,” I say. “Just promise me you won’t do it again. You’re a nice boy, Benjie. That’s a wonderful thing. Always remember that.”

“I promise.” He looks at me. “Can I go now?”

“One more thing. You know you aren’t supposed to bring gum to school.”

“I know. But one of the moms was handing it out before school.”

Mrs. Yates, I instantly know. She wants to be the cool mom. She’s Room Mom for 2A, and, Mrs. Trimbley, the Room Mom for 2B, told me that competing with her this year was like being a contestant in Squid Game.

Benjie continues. “It’s Bubble Yum. My favorite. My mom won’t let me have it because it’s bad for my teeth.”

Benjie opens his mouth and smiles. He resembles a jack-o’-lantern. He’s missing teeth here and there, willy-nilly, black holes where baby teeth once lived and adult teeth will soon reside.

Too late, I want to say to Benjie, but he won’t get my humor. Only my best friend, Q, understands it, and my grandparents who made me this way.

I think of how much I loved chewing gum as a kid.

“Do you have any more?”

“Am I going to get in trouble again?”

“No,” I say with a laugh.

He reaches into the pocket of his little jeans and hands me a piece of grape Bubble Yum.

My favorite.

“Do you know what my teacher used to say when I’d sneak gum into class?”

“You snuck gum into class?”

He stares at me with more admiration than if Albert Pujols from the St. Louis Cardinals suddenly appeared with an autographed baseball.

“I did,” I say. “It was about the only bad thing I ever did. My teacher used to hold out her hand in front of my desk and ask, ‘Did you bring enough gum to share with the whole class?’”

“Did you?” Benjie asks, wild-eyed.

“No,” I say. “That was the whole point. She wanted to embarrass me. And it always worked. Teachers just liked to say that.”

I take the gum from Benjie. “This is just between us, okay?”

He giggles and nods.

I pop the gum into my mouth. It’s even more insanely sweet and sugary and tastes even better than I remember. My taste buds explode. I chew, Benjie watching me with grand amusement, and then—looking out my window to make sure the coast is clear—blow a big bubble. A massive bubble, in fact. It expands until it’s the size of a small balloon. Benjie continues to watch me in silence as a child today might do today trying to figure out how to use a rotary phone. After a few moments, the flavor subsides.

“Want to learn a trick?” I ask.

“Yeah!”

“If you ever get caught chewing gum, don’t stick it in a nice girl’s hair or swallow it. Learn to do this.” I narrow my lips as if I’m going to whistle, puff my cheeks and spit my gum into the air as if Michael Jordan were draining a game-winning three-pointer as time expired. The purple gum arcs into the air and deposits directly into a trash can next to a low-slung sofa ten feet across my office.

Benjie pumps his fist and lifts his hand to high-five me.

“Where did you learn to do that?” he asks.

“Sunday school,” I wink. “My grandma taught me.”

***

Author Bio

VIOLA SHIPMAN is the pen name for internationally bestselling LGBTQIA author Wade Rouse. Wade is the author of fifteen books, which have been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies around the world. Wade chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction. Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Michigan Notable Books of the Year and Indie Next Picks. He lives in Michigan and California, and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, A Literary Happy Hour, every Thursday.

Social Media Links

Author Website

Twitter: @Viola_Shipman

Facebook: Author Viola Shipman

Instagram: @Viola_Shipman

Goodreads

Purchase Links

HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/famous-in-a-small-town-viola-shipman?variant=40980279459874

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/famous-in-a-small-town-viola-shipman/1142722523

BookShop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-champion-of-good-hart-viola-shipman/18794129?ean=9781525804854

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1525804855/keywords=fiction?tag=harpercollinsus-20

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Where the Grass Grows Blue by Hope Gibbs

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs on this AME Blog Tour.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!

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Author Q&A

How did you do research for your book?

Where the Grass Grows Blue is set in Kentucky, where I was born and raised, so I was comfortable with most topics—food, dialogue, and setting. But I did write in flashbacks and had to study pop culture during those decades so as to not get the year wrong. I also had to do some serious research into genetic diseases, as they are a plot point for my protagonist.

Which was the hardest character to write? The easiest?

The hardest to write by far was the main character, Penny. She is a complicated and sometimes frustrating character by design.

The easiest was Bradley, her love interest. I might have developed a literary crush on him while writing.

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

I want to bring the charm of the South to a wider community of readers. It’s my goal to immerse them in the culture, food, and characters, so I look around my surroundings or dig back to my upbringing to find inspiration.

What advice would you give budding writers?

In the words of Nike, “Just do it!” You’ll never know unless you try. Of course, there are going to be bumps, sometimes mountains, along the way, but if you believe in yourself, your voice, and find the right support system, you can make it happen too.

Your book is set in Kentucky. Have you ever been there?

I was born and raised in the Bluegrass State. I still consider it home, though I’ve been gone for decades.

If you could put yourself as a character in your book, who would you be?

Penny’s best friend, Dakota. She is a truth-teller and doesn’t worry about what anyone thinks of her. She’s also fiercely loyal.

Do you have another profession besides writing?

I was a stay-at-home mother of five for twenty-five years. A few years ago, I started re-evaluating my life. At that point, it hit me. My children would soon be leaving for college. So I started “journaling” on a laptop. That lasted about a week before I noticed I wasn’t writing about my feelings or goals—I was creating a character. Now that my children are grown, I’m writing full-time. But that’s only one part of my “writing life.” I’m also a tour guide for Bookish Road Trip, an upbeat community of book lovers, authors, and bibliophiles. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram, and on their website. I’m in charge of the Author Take the Wheel program.

How long have you been writing?

I started about five years ago. It’s been a wonderful creative outlet.

Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps you overcome it?

Of course. Music has been a huge part of my creative process. It really inspires me and allows my mind to go places, creating new worlds. Also, running and exercise helps. Some of my best ideas happen when I work out.

What is your next project?

I’m almost finished with my second book, Ashes to Ashes. It’s an upmarket fiction book, set in the South, of course, that focuses on a tight-knit group of women whose world is rocked after the unexpected death of their dear friend, Ellen, under mysterious circumstances. But before they can even process their grief, they stumble across a web of secrets and lies, unraveling Ellen’s perfect life—the one she tried so hard to project to the outside world. Now they must rely on each other to find out who the real Ellen Foster was while grappling with the idea that they never really knew her at all.

What genre do you write in?

Women’s fiction and contemporary romance. But my third book will be historical fiction because it’s set in the early 1970s. I don’t want to be boxed into one genre.

What is the last great book you’ve read?

On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster. I can’t tell you how much I loved that book.

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?

“The author’s writing was like paint on a canvas, creating a vibrant picture of life in Kentucky, so much so that I was easily transported there.” Reader Views review.

If your book were made into a movie, who would star in the leading roles?

This is fun! Because it has dual timelines (flashbacks to the 70s and 80s and a “current” timeline set in 2009), I would have to cast young and older actors.

For the adult Penny, Elizabeth Olsen would be the perfect choice and for the younger version, circa 1985–89, it would absolutely be Sadie Sink. The adult Bradley? It’s Henry Cavill all the way with Tanner Buchanan taking the younger role.

As for Ruby Ray, Penny’s beloved grandmother, she would be played by Laura Dern (in the 1970s flashback) and Diane Ladd as the older Ruby Ray. They are two of my favorite actresses of all time and they are mother and daughter.

And finally, Dakota, Penny’s best friend with a salty tongue, would be played by Rashida Jones while Margo Martindale would make a fine Miss Paulette, Camden, Kentucky’s premier town gossip.

Maybe I should be a casting agent!

If your book were made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?

It’s funny you should ask. I literally made a playlist for this book as I was writing it. Whenever I was in the car or exercising, I listened to it over and over again.

Name by Goo Goo Dolls

American Girl by Tom Petty

Heaven by Brian Adams

When the Roll is Called Up Yonder by Johnny Cash

Cruel Summer by Bananarama

Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne

Feels Like Home by Edwina Hayes

The Promise by Tracy Chapman

Fix You by Coldplay

All That You Are by Goo Goo Dolls

What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing your book?

The biggest challenge was deciding where to start. To be honest with you, I had no idea what I was doing. I spent about three and a half years writing, rewriting, and editing my novel, Where the Grass Grows Blue completely by myself. This was the first book I had ever written, so there was a lot of trial and error involved.

What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring author?

Write, write, write. It’s the only way to get better. Also, I suggest joining writing groups. I’m a member of the WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association). It’s been a wealth of knowledge and has connected me to so many authors and aspiring writers, who are the most generous people on the planet with their time and advice.

Which authors inspired you to write?

Elin Hilderbrand. She’s the reason I started writing in the first place. I adore her. I even traveled to Nantucket last fall with a group of girlfriends to have the Elin “experience.” It was an absolute blast, plus I met her! On my website, you can find a blog post I wrote about that trip.

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Book Description

Penny Crenshaw’s divorce and her husband’s swift remarriage to a much younger woman have been hot topics around Atlanta’s social circles. After a year of enduring the cruel gossip, Penny leaps from the frying pan into the fire by heading back to Kentucky to settle her grandmother’s estate.

Reluctantly, Penny travels to her hometown of Camden, knowing she will be stirring up all the ghosts from her turbulent childhood. But not all her problems stem from a dysfunctional family. One of Penny’s greatest sources of pain lives just down the street: Bradley Hitchens, her childhood best friend, the keeper of her darkest secrets, and the boy who shattered her heart.

As Penny struggles with sorting through her grandmother’s house and her own memories, a colorful group of friends drifts back into her life, reminding her of the unique warmth, fellowship, and romance that only the Bluegrass state can provide. Now that fate has forced Penny back, she must either let go of the scars of her past or risk losing a second chance at love. Can she learn to live an unbridled life?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63259909-where-the-grass-grows-blue?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=xkSPW8JS2A&rank=2

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs is a heartfelt, enchanting, and beautiful Southern women’s fiction/romance story that I found impossible to put down. This is one woman’s journey that will resonate in part or in total with so many real-life women’s stories.

Penny Crenshaw is far from her poor and emotionally fraught upbringing in Kentucky and is a happy housewife and mother in affluent Atlanta until she discovers not only is her husband having an affair, but he is divorcing her for a much younger woman. Even with their divorce, her husband still controls Penny’s life.

When he takes their three boys on an extended African vacation with his new wife, Penny returns to her small hometown of Camden, Kentucky to get the house her grandmother left her ready for sale. Penny knows the memories will be difficult, but she still has relatives and friends to help. The one person she is determined to avoid is Dr. Bradley Hitchens. He was her best friend, keeper of her most emotionally shattering secret, and the one who shattered her heart.

With Southern comfort and grace, Penny will struggle with her past, find comfort in old friends and relations, and learn to live without fear for a second chance at a soul deep love.

This is an emotional roller-coaster of women’s fiction/romance with exceptionally crafted characters. I love Penny and Bradley’s second chance romance. Penny is discovering sometimes you just cannot outrun your past; you must return and face it head on to move forward. Penny’s journey is written intertwined with exquisitely descriptive small town Southern cuisine, gardening, church, supportive relatives and friends to interfering gossiping busybodies. This is a story and characters that I will be thinking about for quite some time.

I highly recommend this wonderful story!

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Author Bio

Hope Gibbs grew up in rural Scottsville, Kentucky. As the daughter of an English teacher, she was raised to value the importance of good storytelling from an early age. Today, she’s an avid reader of women’s fiction. Drawn to multi-generational family sagas, relationship issues, and the complexities of being a woman, she translates those themes into her own writing.

Hope lives in Tennessee with her husband and her persnickety Shih Tzu, Harley. She is also the mother of five. In her downtime, she loves playing tennis, poring over old church cookbooks, singing karaoke, curling up on her favorite chair with a book, and playing board games.

Hope has a B.A. from Western Kentucky University and is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.authorhopegibbs.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopegibbsauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HopeGibbstuib

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorhopegibbs/

Purchase Links

Amazon: http://amzn.to/3MJraZi

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63259909-where-the-grass-grows-blue

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/463009dc2/

Feature Post and Book Review: Protected by the Gargoyle by Lisa Carlisle

Book Description

Demons are out there.

Don’t ask Janie how she knows. She wants to forget what they did to her and move on.

But when her witch friend has a premonition about a demon in Boston, Janie is forced to confront her fears. She seeks the help of her gorgeous friend and gargoyle shifter, Arto.

Little does she know that Arto considers her his fated mate. He’ll do anything to protect her, even if it means keeping his love a secret.

Janie wants to learn more about demons, so he shows her some books in the library. She reads an ancient script in a powerful old book and unwittingly summons an incubus.

The very tool Arto provided to help her instead brings her nightmares to life.

Now they must work together to stop a predator on the hunt while their relationship is tested by a growing attraction.

Demons have captured Janie before. Can she avoid their clutches this time?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122494858-protected-by-the-gargoyle?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=m4cLCq4W0z&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

PROTECTED BY THE GARGOYLE (Boston Stone Sentries Book $4) by Lisa Carlisle is another exciting trip into the paranormal romance world of gargoyles, witches and demons set in present-day Boston. Even though we met Janie and Arto in previous stories, this is their HEA romance story. While people and paranormal creatures in the series are explained so that this book can be read as a standalone, I feel you would enjoy it more if you read the entire series in order.

Janie is still working to heal her leg injuries from the Boston Marathon bombing and working to restore her sense of safety after being abducted and marked by a demon. Her best friend, Larissa has a premonition about a demon loose in Boston and Janie is terrified. She reaches out to her gargoyle friend, Arto to assist her in protecting herself.

Arto is more than willing to help Janie because he believes she is his fated mate. As they go through old magical tomes, Janie accidentally summons a demon. Now a demon is in Boston trying to abduct Janie once again. Janie and Arto work together to get rid of the demon and as they do their friendship ignites into much more.

Will Arto be able to protect Janie, banish the demon, and prove to her they are truly mates?

I enjoyed this addition to the Boston Stone Sentries series. I have been waiting for Janie and Arto’s romance and this story did not disappoint. There is plenty of sexual frustration and amusing internal dialogue on both sides as they move from the friend zone into a relationship. It is fun for me when I return to a paranormal world and the characters are evolving and growing. Besides the steamy romance, this story also has action and suspense woven throughout. All the books in this series are entertaining and fast paranormal reads with captivating characters.

I recommend this addition to the Boston Stone Sentries series.

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About the Author

Lisa Carlisle is a USA Today Bestselling author of paranormal romance and suspense. She loves to write about wounded, cursed, or misunderstood heroes finding their happily ever afters. They may be shifters, vampires, witches, gargoyles, or even military, first responders, and rockstars! She especially loves stories with fated mates and forbidden love, second chances, and enemies-to-lovers romance.

Her travels have provided her with inspiration for various settings in her novels. She deployed to Okinawa, Japan, while in the Marines, backpacked alone through Europe, lived in Paris, and now lives in New England with her husband, two kids, two crazy cats, and too many fish.

Become a VIP reader and receive free bonus reads! >> http://www.lisacarlislebooks.com/subscribe/

Social Media Links

Website: https://lisacarlislebooks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisacarlisleauthor

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lisa-carlisle

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn

Book Description

The Lebensborn project; a Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master race. Through thorough research and with deep empathy, this chilling historical novel goes inside one of the Lebensborn Society maternity homes that existed in several countries during World War II, where thousands of “racially fit” babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of the new Germany.

At the Heim Hochland maternity home in Bavaria, three women’s lives coverage as they find themselves there under very different circumstances. Gundi is a pregnant university student from Berlin. An Aryan beauty, she’s secretly a member of a resistance group. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer in the cause and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official’s child. And Irma, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. Despite their opposing beliefs, all three have everything to lose as they begin to realize they are trapped within Hitler’s terrifying scheme to build a Nazi-Aryan nation.

A cautionary tale for modern times told in stunning detail, Cradles of the Reich uncovers a little-known Nazi atrocity but also carries an uplifting reminder of the power of women to set aside differences and work together in solidarity in the face of oppression.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn explores the Lebensborn project, a Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master race. This historical novel goes inside the Lebensborn Society, where thousands of “racially fit” babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of Nazi Germany.

At the Heim Hochland maternity home in Bavaria, three women’s lives intersect as they find themselves there under very different circumstances. The Heim Hochland Estate is a country house in Bavaria. The German’s use it as a maternity home during the Second World War as part of the Lebensborn Society. Here pregnant Aryan women stay in luxury, they receive the best medical care, and their babies are adopted by high-ranking German officer’s families.

In 1939 Gundi Schiller was unmarried and pregnant, a university student from Berlin. As a member of the Edelweiss Pirates, a resistance group, she met and fell in love with Leo Solomon, a Jewish man, who was now missing. Because she is considered an “Aryan beauty,” she is told that she needs to enter the Lebensborn program at Heim Hochland. Gundi needs to find a way to hide the identity of her child’s father and protect her baby who will be killed.

Hilde Kramer is a high school student who eagerly supported Hitler’s policies. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official’s child. She believed in the cause, where maternity homes had children bred for a superior race for the German future.

Irma Binz, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. She will be the one encouraging the unwed mothers to stay healthy, so they deliver these perfect children. Irma just wants to do her job and stay out of trouble, looking the other way. But her closeness with the women in the home has her conflicted about her loyalty to Germany, especially when it comes to the danger faced by Gundi and her baby.

Jennifer Coburn has an incredible knack for being able to entertain while at the same time educate her readers on this important piece of horrific history. Her characters come alive and are very relatable.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Jennifer Coburn: It was from a television show, “The Man in the High Castle.” It imagines the Nazis winning the war and takes place in 1962. In one of the episodes a German woman said she was bred through the Lebensborn Society. I thought this was a fictional episode, but I googled it. I found a black and white photograph of this row of nurses standing in a military-like formation holding babies. It was then I realized it was real.

EC: What exactly is the Lebensborn Society?

JC: It was a top-secret breeding program that operated for ten years. The nurses were brain washed at best and complicit. Women were like incubators. The Nazis had a goal of 2 million racially pure babies for the Reich. Only 20,000 babies were produced but 200,000 babies were stolen from occupied countries. After the war the women who participated and the children born were shunned. Only 20% of these babies knew about their roots.

EC: How did the 20% find out they were products of the program?

JC: When their mothers passed away the children found a silver mug given by Himmler. The mug had the child’s name engraved on the front and his name engraved on the back.

EC: You have three different women who were associated with the Society in some manner?

JC: Yes. They were meant to represent the three different choices that gentile German women had in 1939. There is the resistor, bystander, and the Hitler true believer. Those that worked there could have been aware of the plan to create a “Master Race.” I would never give up my child for good of country.

EC: How would you describe Gundi?

JC: She is a twenty-year-old university student. She is everything the Nazis consider perfect: blonde, blue-eyed, and tall. But she is secretly a member of the resistance and carrying the child of a Jewish man. She is the resistor, the moral conscious of the story, and the heroine of the story.

EC: What about Nurse Irma?

JC: She is a typical bystander who wants to keep her head down. She does not do much questioning of the Nazis and goes whichever way the wind blows until the end. She changes the most over time. She starts out one thing and ends up the opposite.

EC: Was Hilde naïve or stupid?

JC: She is pathetic and cruel. She is unloved, neglected, and a second-class citizen. She is brain-washed, delusional, and went along with the crowd. She wanted to be the best “Hitler girl.” She enjoyed the power that came with her contacts. She is only eighteen and a little bit naïve and narcissistic. She became a vessel literally. She is based on a real person. In an interview the real Hilde said that her time in the Lebensborn Society was the best time of her life. She noted she was well fed, well cared for, with a lot of leisure time. The real Hilde Trutz told of her sexual experience with an SS officer, had a child, and handed it over for adoption, without thinking twice about it. Till the day she died she thought she had done a great think for her country.

EC: What was true in the story?

JC: If the baby was imperfect, that included, a Jewish baby, they were given a lethal injection. They also monitored the skin tone of those women chosen. Regarding Kristallnacht, the 1938 Pogroms, this was considered the official start of the Holocaust. This was widespread. The baby naming ceremony is also true, where the sword tip is laid on the baby’s stomach, like knighthood.

EC: Your next book?

JC: It is titled The Girls of the Glimmer Factory, set in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, located in Northern Czechoslovakia. It was a propaganda camp, set up for films, tours, to show the world the Jews were treated well under Nazi rule. Hilde is back. She is a filmmaker on the crew for the Nazis who made a movie about Theresienstadt that was filled with false information. She reunites with an old friend Hannah Kaufman, a Jewish prisoner there. Irma is involved with a baby smuggling program. It will be out in early 2025.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Feature Post and Book Review: Casanova Cowboy by Jamie Schulz

Book Description

She’s used to the glitzy, big-city life. He hides behind country-boy charm.
Will these total opposites spark unquenchable flames of attraction?

Izabel Silva is wary of men. After escaping an awful relationship and a workplace betrayal, the talented marketer seeks refuge with an old friend in small-town Montana. And though worried she’s falling in with another control-obsessed hunk, she accepts the kindly neighbors’ invitation to stay with them and their flirtatious son.

Zack MacEntier longs to live down his reputation. With his ranch’s bank accounts at rock bottom, the one-time lady’s man isn’t ready to take on a gorgeous and strong-willed Latina. But when his mother volunteers him to show the lovely newcomer around, the loyal cowboy is secretly glad of an excuse to spend more days in the fierce woman’s company.

Taken aback by local prejudice, Izabel’s concerns over Zack’s stubborn protective streak start to fade when he comes rushing to her rescue. And even as the brave rancher fears that he has nothing to offer the beautiful outsider, their growing passion has placed them firmly in danger’s crosshairs…

Can they survive the unexpected threat and claim a scorching love?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123240228-casanova-cowboy?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_15#CommunityReviews

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

CASANOVA COWBOY (The Montana Men Series Book #2) by Jamie Schulz is a delightful contemporary western romance with a hero and heroine who have been scarred by love in their pasts and even as they work to heal, trust and love again, they are in danger from an unknown threat. This is the second book in the Montana Men series following “Broken Cowboy”, but it can easily be read as a standalone.

Izabel Silva has left Seattle and is looking to reconnect with her old friend, Addie, and unknowingly appears on her wedding day. Izabel is escaping an emotionally abusive relationship and workplace betrayal. With Addie on her honeymoon, a friendly neighbor invites Izabel to stay with her and her family and volunteers her flirtatious son to show her the sights during her stay.

Zack MacEntier is drawn to the beautiful woman staying with his family, but he has plenty of problems with the start-up of the family vineyard and with his reputation as a Casanova, which he wants to change before he feels he has anything to offer a woman. Zack and Izabel take tentative steps to trust and friendship which soon turns into an intense chemistry that neither can resist, but someone is not happy with this new couple.

Small threats turn into gunfire and Zack and Izabel are in more danger than anyone expects.

I enjoyed this romance so much because it has a wonderful hero and heroine who grow throughout the love story and for the most part actually communicate and when they do not it is believable and not just an easy way to further the plot. Izabel starts out hesitant and then becomes a strong heroine who is trying new things and rebuilding her life in a completely new environment. Zack is lovable and seems carefree but tries to carry too much on his own and must learn to overcome his pride when his friends want to help. His secret from his past was heartbreaking. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous and realistic to an adult relationship. I enjoyed catching up with characters from the first book, but if you have not read it, you will not be confused or lost. The suspense elements of the plot are interwoven throughout the story seamlessly and all the separate threads are resolved.

I highly recommend this endearing contemporary romance and I am looking forward to many more in this series.

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About the Author

Jamie Schulz is a contemporary Western romance and dystopian cowboy romance author. She loves to write about heroes with vulnerabilities and strong, feisty heroines who are a match for the men they love. To her, every one of her stories, no matter how dark, must have a happy ending, and she strives to make them impossible to put down until you get there.

Jamie has been writing and making up stories for most of her life and hopes to one day reach the bestsellers lists. Her book Broken Cowboy won the Global Book Awards Gold Medal for romance and was a RONE Awards finalist. Jake’s Redemption—a full-length prequel to the dark, dystopian world of the Angel Eyes series—was also an award-winner in the Global Ebook Awards.

Cowboys, ice cream, and reading almost any kind of romance are among her (not so) secret loves. She balances her free time between reading her favorite romance authors—in genres ranging from erotica and dark romance to sweet historicals and contemporary romance—and spending time with those she is closest to. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family and their fur babies, and she enjoys hearing from her fans.

Social Media Links

* Website: thejamieschulz.com/

* Facebook: www.facebook.com/thejamieschulz

* Twitter: twitter.com/TheJamieSchulz

* Instagram: instagram.com/thejamieschulz/

* BookBub: www.bookbub.com/authors/jamie-schulz

BookTour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Scots of Dalriada by Rowena Kinread

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE SCOTS OF DALRIADA by Rowena Kinread on this Coffee and Thorn Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

THREE BROTHERS
Fergus, Loarn and Angus, Princes of the Dalriada, are forced into exile by their scheming half-brother and the druidess Birga One-tooth.

THREE FATES
Fergus conceals himself as a stable lad on Aran and falls helplessly in love with a Scottish princess, already promised to someone else. Loarn crosses swords against the Picts. Angus designs longboats.

TOGETHER A MIGHTY POWER
Always on the run the brothers must attempt to outride their adversaries by gaining power themselves. Together they achieve more than they could possibly dream of.

Fergus Mór (The Great) is widely recognised as the first King of Scotland, giving Scotland its name and its language. Rulers of Scotland and England from Kenneth mac Alpín until the present time claim descent from Fergus Mór.
Full of unexpected twists and turns, this is a tale of heart-breaking love amidst treachery, deceit and murder.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75627138-the-scots-of-dalriada-fergus-mor?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Ck5bKVIOdI&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE SCOTS OF DALRIADA by Rowena Kinread is a historical fiction set in the fifth century telling the tale of three brothers with focus on Fergus, who will go on to become the founder of Scotland. This is an epic family saga delivered in an easy-to-read historical fiction novel.

While this story covers many years, the author makes it flow through the many players and intrigues with intertwined historical facts that do not bog down the pace. The author’s research is evident with the descriptive characters and living conditions all brought to life. The writing style is very different from other historical fiction books I have read. It is a cross between reading a short, to the point history book, but with the added imagined historical fiction embellishment of relationships intertwined.

This historical fiction story is loaded with adventure, jealousy, greed, and warfare, but it also has moments of romance, family, and brotherhood. It is an entertaining and enlightening story of a period I had previously known nothing about.

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About the Author

Rowena Kinread grew up in Ripon, Yorkshire with her large family and a horde of pets. Keen on travelling, her first job was with Lufthansa in German

She began writing in the nineties. Her special area of interest is history. After researching her ancestry and finding family roots in Ireland with the Dalriada clan, particularly this era. Her debut fiction novel titled “The Missionary” is a historical novel about the dramatic life of St. Patrick. It was published by Pegasus Publishers on Apr.29th, 2021 and has been highly appraised by The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post and the Irish Times.

Her second novel “The Scots of Dalriada” centres around Fergus Mór, the founder father of Scotland and takes place in 5th century Ireland and Scotland. It is due to be published by Pegasus Publishers on Jan.26th, 2023.

The author lives with her husband in Bodman-Ludwigshafen, Lake Constance, Germany. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.rowena-kinread.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rowena.strittmatter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RowenaKinread

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rowena-kinread