October 2020 – Page 3 – Rosepoint Publishing

Cover Reveal – Come Marching Home by Hazel West #CoverReveal Pre-Order Goody Info

Today I am thrilled to present the cover reveal for Come Marching Home by Hazel West.

What’s it all about?

“It’s like, for them, life just went on, and then we drop back into it and we don’t fit anymore. Like they’ve already figured out how to survive without us and we’re just here, in the way, until we can figure out how to get our old lives back. But we’re not the same people, and probably never will be.”

After being away for over a year, Alfonse Keller has returned from the trenches on Teuton’s western front, fighting in the war that’s broken out against the Steppes. He should feel relieved now that’s he’s back in his own village in the care of his brother Ernst, but he’s not. It seems like nothing has changed except for him, like he’s a traveler from a different world.

When Alfonse left to join the army, he was a natural magician making a name for himself, but after a tragic incident resulting in the death of his friend, and his own crippling injury, he no longer has the ability to use magic.

Suffering from constant nightmares and revisited trauma, Alfonse can’t get the trenches out of his head. Ernst tries to help, but he doesn’t really understand either. How can he, when Alfonse doesn’t really understand himself? He feels like a phantom, standing on the outskirts of a life he’ll never live again.

As Ernst tries to do everything he can for his brother, he can’t help but feel like Alfonse is slipping away, that maybe part of him never left the trenches at all. But how can he save his brother when Alf refuses to let anyone in?

Publication Date: October 13, 2020
Print Length: 279 pages
ASIN: B08K8SNKD8
Language: English

Author Links

Blog: http://hazelwest.blogspot.com

Goodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5289626.Hazel_B_West

Twitter: https://twitter.com/artfulscribbler

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modern_bard67/

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/hazelwest

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K8SNKD8?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

Release Date: October 13^th

Pre-Order Info

If you pre-order Come Marching Home or just order a copy of it by the end of October (extending because the paperback won’t be available for preorder) you can email the receipt of your purchase to sirwilliamssquire@gmail.com with your address and Hazel will send you a goodie pack!

Goodies:

-A bookmark

-A sticker with art by H.S.J. Williams @h.s.j._williams

-A playlist curated by Hazel

-And if you order the paperback, you will get a signed bookplate

I will be posting a full review on Thursday, October 15, 2020.

2020 V Williams

Mordecai’s Ashes (Larsson Investigations Book 1) by Alana Crane – a #BookReview

Your next PI/Crime Fiction–#mustread

Book Blurb:

Karl Larsson is an out of work roughneck, home from the oil fields of Alberta and back on the coast for the first time in years. His wife has left him and his future looks bleak. Becoming a detective is the last thing on his mind, but when Karl learns that he has inherited his estranged grandfather’s agency he decides to take a chance.

He doesn’t expect much action in a city as small as Victoria, BC, but Karl soon finds that Victoria is only the base of operations. His grandfather’s business took him across the length and breadth of Vancouver Island, and the Island is a world unto itself, with a culture all its own.

When a reporter from a national news agency asks him to investigate a drug running operation on the Island, Karl is drawn into a dangerous game. Finding the truth sounds simple in theory, but as Karl delves deeper he begins to realize that more than his life may be at stake.

My Review:

You’ll excuse me if I’m at a loss for words—still sniggering, shaking my head, totally but happily surprised with that little twist at the end of the book and enjoying that afterglow of a hoot of a book that has me amazed this is a debut author.

Karl Larsson is the youngest of his siblings and at the moment out of a job, out of a marriage, and out of luck. He’s currently shuffling aimless when he gets a call from his sister that his aunt Matilda passed away and she’d appreciate it if he would help his mother clear her rental. Following the funeral and reading of her will, he is dumbfounded to discover he has inherited his grandfather’s (Mordecai’s) building and detective agency in Victoria, BC.

He’s young. What does he know? He’s naïve, lacks a lot of street knowledge, but the building and the agency gives him a direction. No license? No prob. What he is is a sympathetic protagonist, an underdog you’ll root for immediately. His head is on straight—he’s a good kid just trying to get along in this world. You can’t help but love him.

Then comes his cousin, Kelsey—she’s only 19—smart as a whip, intuitive, ingenious. She is clever, resourceful, and enormously engaging. You might have grudging respect for her, but she earns it—time and again when she proves an invaluable resource for Karl. You can’t help but love her.

The light-sided search and serve side of the detective agency moves along until a journalist (a former client of Mordecai) comes with a very serious investigation and soon Karl is heavy into the case with the initial support of Kelsey, which quickly turns grim.

The author carefully introduces the circumstances building her characters background, her main characters, and a well-plotted drug running operation into a fast-paced and immersive storyline. I enjoyed the description of the island and the little coastal BC communities. She builds sympathy for Karl; he’s naïve and a quick study, but the reader becomes fearful for him as he succeeds getting deeper into a situation that will not be easy getting out of. Kelsey speaks her mind with knee-jerk reaction and the reader is quickly drawn to her creativity and smarts. She is a strong co-protagonist. Can Karl keep Kelsey safe, much less himself?

The narrative cruises into the conclusion and the dust settles quietly, until little plot points, threads, begin tying off. There were questions, issues to be resolved (after all, this is Book 1) and the reveal at the end is one that will elicit a chuckle. My only problem is the edit misses—but the story and characters really win the day. Brilliant twist. Master storyteller. I’m so looking forward to Book 2!

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. These are my honest thoughts—loved it.

Rosepoint Publishing: Just Shy of Five

Book Details:

Publisher: Big Tree Press

Genre: Private Investor Mysteries, Crime Fiction

ASIN : B089LG7BB9

Print Length: 260 pages

Publication Date: June 1, 2020

Source: Publisher and author request

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Arlana Crane is a fourth generation Vancouver Islander, currently living in Calgary, Alberta with her husband James. She loves to read, write, knit, play the ukulele and attend the theatre. Summer vacations will find her back on her beloved Island, enjoying the ocean and spoiling her niece and nephews. For more information please visit arlanawrites.com.

Your next crime fiction.
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Rosepoint September Reviews Recap—Ouch! It’s October! (And I’m Not Ready.)

What happened to summer? We here in NWI are being plunged into a premature cold start to autumn.

The trees are turning colors and dropping leaves. I’m not a cold weather person and this portends an early and hard winter. NOT a fan. The garden, late starting, underperforming, and just plain embarrassing this year is no longer trying to fake being a vegetable garden, but the mums are beginning to look good in the flower bed. Hum bug.

I’m finally getting used to the old, old WordPress editor and had forgotten how archaic it was, but it’s either that or unrelenting blocks—blocks for text, blocks for pictures, blah, blah, blah. When I looked in vain for indents and symbols (including the copyright symbol I use at the bottom of my posts), I was told, “Indents and symbols are not yet available in the block editor, but it’s being worked on all the time with new features being added on a regular basis.” HUH? They’re not kidding. Anyone else having a problem with their new block editor? Did they ever get indents or symbols added? Between the two, I’ll opt for archaic editor.

There was a mix of seventeen books reviewed, blitzed, or toured in September. If you missed any of the reviews, just click on the links below the graphic.

The Ninth Passage by Dale O Cloninger (a RABT book tour)
As the Stars Fall by Steve N Lee (author request)
Song for a Lost Kingdom by Steve Moretti (a CE review for Digital Reads Book Tours)
The German Client by Bruno Morchio (a CE review – publisher’s request)
Murder Ballad Blues by Lynda McDaniel (author request)
A Girl Like You by Michelle Cox (for iRead Book Tours – audiobook)
Final Second by John Ryder
Crimson at Cape May by Randy Overbeck MD (author request)
The House of the Setting Son by Nancy Cole Silverman
One Good Deed by David Baldacci (audiobook)
One by One by Ruth Ware
Act of Revenge by John Bishop MD
The Body from the Past by Judi Lynn
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (Netflix series-audiobook)
Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder by Tina Kashian
Watch Her Vanish by Ellery A Kane (a CE review)
Back Bay Blues by Peter Colt

Only seven of the above are from NetGalley, while another four were author requests, and the three audiobooks are from my library.

The challenges: I surpassed my Audiobooks challenge of 15 (Stenographer level 10-15) now at 18. Also achieved 11 for my Renaissance Reader level of 10 in the Historical Challenge. (I didn’t add Call the Midwife.)

NetGalley: Seven this month giving me 69 towards my goal of 75. That should be doable.

Goodreads goals—Mercy! I was three behind my goal of 170 when I realized I’d have to revise my goal for the year to 160 as it was becoming obvious that’d be more of a push than I could accomplish. I’m climbing out of a hole but getting there!

Which of the above have you read? On your TBR?

How are you doing with your challenges? Have you had to revise any? Achieved some? Catch up with my challenges here.

In the meantime, fellow bloggers, authors, and lovely readers, take care, stay safe. Once again I’m hoping that wherever you are, you and your situation is getting better and that you remain successful in staying healthy.

And, as always, thank you, I so appreciate your likes and comments!