Tag: Green Jocelyn

The Mark of the King + Giveaway

Random Retro Re-Read

Life in this new world requires more strength than she ever imagined

After the death of her client, midwife Julianne Chevalier is imprisoned and branded, marking her as a criminal beyond redemption. Hoping to reunite with her brother, a soldier, she trades her life sentence for exile to the fledgling French colony of Louisiana. The price of her transport, however, is a forced marriage to a fellow convict.

New Orleans is nothing like Julianne expects. The settlement is steeped in mud and mosquitoes and there is no news of her brother, Benjamin. When tragedy strikes, she turns to military officer Marc-Paul Girard for help, but does he know more about her brother than he will admit?

With her dreams shattered, Julianne must find her way in this dangerous land, where only grace — and love — can overcome the stigma of the king’s mark upon her shoulder.

My Review:

Wickedly intense. Enthralling. There were times I had to set this book aside because I just couldn’t take any more. But I always returned to it after a few fortifying breaths because how could I leave Julianne in that predicament? Or the next one? Or the next?

Mercy, but I’m amazed that this area got settled. Still confused as to why the French wanted to claim it in the first place when they didn’t support their troops. The historical information is intriguing and frustrating and unbelievable. How did women survive childbirth? (beware to the faint of heart — the midwifery details are…detailed!) Only the strong survived — and then by the grace of God! And don’t get me started on the lack of women’s rights and the barbaric actions of some of the soldiers. Goodness, but my emotions were all over the place as I devoured this book.

Marc-Paul stands out as a man of dignity and honor. Strict, legalistic, he serves his country devoutly. But he also learns the true meaning of grace as he draws closer to the Lord. And that softens him in delightful ways.

Julianne is strength personified. Defiant. Determined. Unstoppable. She is a survivor — and the things she survives — truly unimaginable. How a loving author could treat a heroine so…it’s shameful, that’s what. 🙂

Rife with drama, heavy with sorrow but lifted by faith, The Mark of the King a sweeping tale of love and loss and second chances.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a gently read paperback copy and available to any reader anywhere in the world so — yay — International Giveaway!

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Mark of the King, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday September 9, 2023

Veiled in Smoke + Giveaway

RANDOM RETRO RE-READ

Meg and Sylvie Townsend manage the family bookshop and care for their father, Stephen, a veteran still suffering in mind and spirit from his time as a POW during the Civil War. But when the Great Fire sweeps through Chicago’s business district, they lose much more than just their store.

The sisters become separated from their father, and after Meg burns her hands in an attempt to save a family heirloom, they make a harrowing escape from the flames with the help of Chicago Tribune reporter Nate Pierce. Once the smoke clears away, they reunite with Stephen, only to learn soon after that their family friend not only died during the fire–he was murdered. Even more shocking, Stephen is charged with the crime and committed to the Cook County Insane Asylum.

Though homeless, injured, and suddenly unemployed, Meg must not only gather the pieces of her shattered life, but prove her father’s innocence before the asylum truly drives him mad.

My Review:

published in 202o

I admit to being a cover snob and this one completely draws me in. The sepia tones and the haze of smoke shrouding the city’s ruins…just wow…totally sets the mood. And with the heroine standing on the edge — visual imagery of the precipice she’s teetering on as her whole life tumbles down around her. Whew! What a powerful lure to the unsuspecting reader. (And I might be a tad giddy over the embossed lettering on the cover. I’m tactile nerdy that way.)

This is the first book in The Windy City Saga series and, wowsers, saga is right! It reads like an epic classic with rich descriptive prose and an involved plot that carried me away to another time and place. Jocelyn Green is known for her impeccable research and the historical details in this novel add such rich layers to characterization and plot.

Drama, mystery, intrigue and even a touch of romance — my bibliophile senses are still swimming. This is the kind of book you lose yourself in. Seriously, I barely came up for air and lost sleep because I couldn’t leave these characters to sort out their lives without me there to encourage them on. 🙂 It’s kind of left me tongue-tied, actually. Definitely the kind of multi-sensory delight a reader needs to experience for herself.

Gobsmackingly good!

(This is my second read through — this time I listened to the audible edition expertly narrated by Leah Horowitz.)

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

Gently read paperback (has been stored in a bookcase with glass doors so it still smells new!) available TO ALL READERS — INTERNATIONAL INCLUDED. YAY!

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Veiled in Smoke, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday May 20, 2023. Offer open to International Readers.

The Metropolitan Affair + Giveaway

Bestselling author Jocelyn Green sweeps you away in a dazzling novel of secrets, betrayal, and romance within one of New York City’s most esteemed museums.

For years her explorer father promised Dr. Lauren Westlake she’d accompany him on one of his Egyptian expeditions. But as the empty promises mounted, Lauren determined to earn her own way. Now the assistant curator of Egyptogoly for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lauren receives two unexpected invitations.

The first is her repentant father’s offer to finally bring her to Egypt as his colleague on a new expedition. The second is a chance to enter the world of New York’s wealthiest patrons who have been victims of fraud.

With Egyptomania sweeping the city after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, Detective Joe Caravello is on the hunt for a notorious forger preying on the open wallets of New York’s high society. Dr. Westlake is just the expert he needs to help him track the criminal. Together they search for the truth, and the closer Lauren and Joe get to discovering the forger’s identity, the more entangled they become in a web of deception and crime.

My Review:

Phew! This is the kind of read that is so well plotted that you want to take your time to savour every nuance of scene and character but, at the same time, you are impatient to get all the pieces put together and bask in the happily ever after! Such a reader dilemma! To race or relish? I confess to doing both, and revelling in it all.

The Second Chance Romance trope is one of my favourites and this one has lots of delicious layers to dig through. A chance childhood meeting sparked an unusual friendship, complicated by differences in class and education that eventually separated Lauren and Joe. Until a not-so-chance meeting reunited them and then the fun begins.

Gah, but my emotions were all over the place during this read. I loved Lauren but don’t get me started on her naivety. I was forever cautioning her, but did she listen? She did not! Luckily Joe is more grounded — the life of a New York City police detective (with scruples) will do that to a guy. Absolutely loved the depth in both their back stories, their complicated (and distinctly different) family relationships and the way all of that played into the story.

And the whole ‘Egyptomania’ craze both irked and enthralled me. The historical details are riveting (I wouldn’t expect anything else from this author, but it bears saying anyway.) I’d get so steamed up over all these wealthy patrons of the arts who thought nothing of robbing a nation of their priceless antiquities for their own private collections! And then I’d be confounded by the irresistible draw all the Egyptology details held over me. And that made me wonder if I’d have been any different as a high society matron back in the day. And that just made me cranky. 🙂

Green blends history and mystery to create a captivating tale of greed and deception nicely contrasted with faith and love and the kind of insurmountable hope God can bring into our future.

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Marthin Communications Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback copy.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Metropolitan Affair, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday April 8, 2023. Offer open to International Readers.