#LilacInk – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – July Recap – Six Audiobooks of Twelve Reviewed

Rosepoint Reviews - July Recap

Too hot for much in the way of outdoor activities, but I’ve been working on saving rain water as we are charged for every drop out of the faucet and then the same for sewer services, so I hate watering the garden with water that will also be charged for sewer.

One barrel in the front is enough to water a few potted plants decorating the front yard. Then I got a temporary rain barrel for the back and the first time it filled to capacity in one of our upper Midwest T-storms it went over. One hundred gallons is a LOT of water and quickly overwhelmed the overflow at the top. So I reconfigured the base and siphoned the water out in anticipation of another gully washer. It’s going a long way to watering the veggie and flower bed as well as the potted plants on the deck and the deck plants are looking very happy. We used to have dry periods, not this year though. This year, we’ve not just had rain, we’ve had some serious major storms, and looking ahead, August is promising some douzies. We are still cleaning up a couple trees that came down in the fairy garden.

Update on Punkin the Pom: that little stinker is still a challenge now at almost ten months with us. Looks like progress with housetraining, then we regress. She continues to bond with the CE but must still equate me with the dragon that forced her to have another litter. Now she’ll occasionally initiate a walk, running outside then plopping butt down to have the leash attached. (That doesn’t mean a successful potty walk, however.) I have found a new treat she’ll accept (that’s two!) and she is beginning to spend some “social” time near the CE (play time, however, was apparently something she never had nor a clue how to jump up on a couch).

I managed to bake a successful loaf of bread from my third sourdough starter—long story there that includes an attack by a demon squirrel on the starter left on the deck to slow rising—and the separation of 20 grams I’d saved in the fridge for use later. Turned out, later was the next day, but it turned out wonderful, great texture, light and airy, flavorful. Thrilled but now wonder if I could have siphoned off ten grams to save and ten to use.

So yes, July was a blur with the CE’s attention divided and my spending more time in the kitchen. I’m still thinking of a short break, so much going on, it’s been a struggle and I’m relying on more audiobooks to provide content as evidenced by July stats.

I’m still getting books from NetGalley as well as author requests, but July saw more audiobooks than before from my library (six in July!) or half the books reviewed for a total of twelve. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

July Recap

Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (audiobook)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (audiobook)
Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey
Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda (audiobook)
City Gone Askew by Matt Cost (CE review)
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (audiobook)
Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger
12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington
Middletide by Sarah Crouch (audiobook)
Dark of the Moon by John Sandford (audiobook)
The Road to Roatan by Michael Reisig

Favorite Book of the Month

I actually had two five-star books in July—loved them both—and if I had to choose just one, fail. 12 Coffins was a YA, unusual for me, but more than quirky enough to really keep me glued to the pages. Lilac Ink is by one of my favorite authors and this novel begins a new series—totally captivated by the characters—all so real they came alive on the pages. Thoroughly invested and looking forward to Book 2.

Favorites for July – 12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington

Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger

My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—I refuse to give up on this page—I will bring it up to date, but at this point, it will probably be Fall. The Goodreads Challenge is still six books behind schedule at 80 of 150. I must be having too much fun somewhere!

Welcome as always to my new subscribers and thank you so much to those of you who continue to monitor, read, and comment on my posts. I appreciate all of you.

Happy Thursday!

Lilac Ink: The Knocknashee Story by Jean Grainger #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

The prolific pen of Ms Grainger has churned out another start to a can’t-miss new series with unique empathetic characters in an atmospheric village of the turbulent Irish coastline.

Book Blurb:

As the world teeters on the brink of war in 1937, two young souls separated by an ocean are about to discover a connection that defies logic and time.

Grace Fitzgerald, a fiery-haired dreamer, longs to escape the confines of her windswept Dingle fishing village. Across the Atlantic, Richard Lewis, heir to a Savannah banking fortune, suffocates under the weight of societal expectations he can’t quite understand.

When their worlds collide through a twist of fate, Grace and Richard uncover a bond so profound it shakes the very foundations of their existence. As Europe inches towards chaos, they find themselves caught in a whirlwind of discovery, challenging everything they thought they knew about themselves and each other.

From the rugged Irish coastline to the genteel streets of Georgia, ‘Lilac Ink’ weaves a tapestry of love, destiny, and self-realization against the ominous backdrop of impending global conflict. Grace and Richard must navigate not only their impossible connection but also the turbulent waters of family expectations, social norms, and their own conflicting desires.

This mesmerizing journey through time and place will leave you questioning the very nature of fate and the extraordinary power of human connection. In a world being torn apart, can two hearts, inexplicably linked, find a way to beat as one?

My Review:

Oh my goodness, I love the descriptions of the quaint villages of Ireland, the people who live there, and the immersive stories that Ms Grainger generates!

The new series finds Grace Fitzgerald under the tyrannical thumb of her older sister, Agnes. She has been there since her return from the hospital following a four-year battle with polio. She has been left with a gimpy, painful right leg and is at the mercy of her sister, the headmistress of the school where she works as an assistant teacher.

In frustration and despair one evening, Grace throws caution to the wind off Dingle Peninsula and discovers someone across the Atlantic shares much the same frustration with his own family, though his circumstances are pretty much 180 degrees from hers.

Agnes is a scheming, nasty, spiteful woman bitter with the way her life turned after the loss of both parents and her sudden, unhappy role as Grace’s caregiver. It’s not that Grace isn’t grateful for the roof over her head, but…

Aside from Agnes and Canon Rafferty, who provide strong dastardly antagonistic roles, there are a number of wonderful support characters all given just enough development to engage. (When the time comes, they rally around Grace—I loved it.)

As with all of the author’s books, there is Irish and British history woven into the narrative, and as this book is set just pre-WWII, the tension of the country and its inhabitants. The storyline is a marvelous mix of storytelling, history, suspense, and that Irish sense of humor.

At this point, I’m sufficiently invested to anxiously await the next installment in her promising new series. Character-driven, I’ve got to see where they go and already placing bets, no money involved, as this author is always full of surprises.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest opinions. If you aren’t already a Grainger fan, now is a good time to check out her books.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Irish Fiction, Historical British & Irish Literature, Friendship Fiction
ASIN: B0CYY51D7H
Print Length: 296 pages
Publication Date: July 23, 2024 Happy Release Day!
Source: Author
Title Links: Lilac Ink [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK

The Author: JEAN GRAINGER USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SELECTED BY BOOKBUB READERS IN TOP 19 OF HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS

WINNER OF THE 2016 AUTHOR’S CIRCLE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF EXCELLENCE

Hello and thanks for taking time out to check out my page. If you’re wondering what you’re getting with my books, then think of the late great Maeve Binchy but sometimes with an historical twist. I was born in Cork, Ireland in 1971 and I come from a large family of storytellers, so much so that we had to have ‘The Talking Spoon’, only the person holding the spoon could talk!

I have worked as a history lecturer at University, a teacher of English, History and Drama in secondary school, a playwright, and a tour guide of my beloved Ireland. I am married to the lovely Diarmuid and we have four children. We live in a 200 year old stone cottage in Mid-Cork with my family and the world’s smallest dogs, called Scrappy and Scoobi..

My experiences leading groups, mainly from the United States, led me to write my first novel, ‘The Tour’. My observances of the often funny, sometimes sad but always interesting events on tours fascinated me. People really did confide the most extraordinary things, the safety of strangers I suppose. It’s a fictional story set on a tour bus but many of the characters are based on people I met over the years. Little was I to know that it would end up as a six-book series…

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Many of the people who have reviewed my books have said that you get to know the characters and really become attached to them. That’s wonderful for me to hear because that’s how I feel about them too. I grew up on Maeve Binchy and Deirdre Purcell and I aspired to being like them. If you buy one of my books, I’m very grateful and I really hope you enjoy it. If you do, or even if you don’t, please take the time to post a review. Writing is a source of constant contentment to me and I am so fortunate to have the time and the inclination to do it, but to read a review written by a reader really does make my day.

#TuesdayBookBlog