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Showing posts with label Virtual Author Book Tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virtual Author Book Tours. Show all posts
Monday, March 27, 2017
The Blue Hour
I've always been fascinated with historical fiction, especially one written as a backdrop against historical facts, as in this case of the Blue Hour by Vicki Righettini as her debut novel. Yet don't let that dissuade you from venturing forth with our main strong-willed and determined female lead, Emily Wainwright, who at 26 is what society in most parts deems a spinster. Coming from a well-defined family who is financially well off, she wonders what her future will hold for her. As the book opens in a prologue, we understand what will happen to her husband Samuel, and the saga of how she arrived at that point will be covered in the remainder of the novel to catch us up to date on what prompted her decisions to marry Samuel Todd. a man she considers a fine catch for someone of her age.
He manages to convince Emily that her future lies along the same path as his, one that means you can start over again in Oregon as part of a party of wagoners to make their home receiving parcels of land upon venturing out west. For a single man, it is 160 acres but a married man can receive double and so that is the basis for his romancing Emily, only she doesn't know it. She just sees Samuel as the only future prospect she might receive as a husband of a strong-willed and educated woman, thanks to her father who has denied her nothing despite what society deems a proper woman ought to receive. Even though he has strong objections against her marrying Samuel, he knows that Emily is well educated enough to make her own decisions when it comes to her future and that he has very little to fear in sending her off out West.
Yet no matter how much they attempted to plan on what hazards they may face on the Oregon Trail, nothing will prepare them not only for the adversity they will face both in dealing with others on the trail, but the dangers along the way. The only thing she doesn't make plans for is how much life will change Samuel and the small ways his deceptive practices will slowly leak out along the way, causing her to question not only what she will do, but how she will survive such a mean and often times violent man, who has no real love for her, only what she can provide for him until he has everything he wants. Life can be hard enough for someone venturing out West in search of a new future and hope, but when it appears that the man you married isn't the man you thought after all, perhaps the stranger is the one thing she should fear the most.
I received The Blue Hour by Vicki Righettini compliments of Mill City Press and Virtual Author Book Tours. This is such an incredible novel because the author does such an exceptional job at the details to make the story come alive. You find yourself along with Emily as she struggles from trying to understand the basics of cooking over an open flame and dealing with the fact she must walk the entire way, while her husband drives the wagon to avoid overloading the oxen team with any extra weight. Not sure no matter how much I was trying to prepare for that, just that task alone would wear me out, not to mention, dealing with all the duties women had to provide for, from cooking, laundry and moving items in and out of the wagons. For me, this one rated a 4.5 out of 5 stars and will be adding her name next to my must read author's page.
For more information about The Blue Hour, Vicki Righettini or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:
You can find Vicki Righettini on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.
To read more reviews on The Blue Hour, please visit Virtual Authors Book Tour's website.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Isolation - Giveaway and Review
Imagine a world where just the touch of someone could quite literally kill you. In fact the spread of contaminants and bacteria are spiraling so out of control that physical touch is banned. To prevent the spread of bacteria, you are not allowed to touch your face at all. What has become a habit is now against the law. A new motto is in effect, "Habits learned early are habits for life." In fact the world's population is now spiraling out of control as government agencies like the CDC and Homeland Security are trying to figure out just how to control the spread of bacteria like Ecoli and others that are killing people faster than 48 hours.
Suddenly bans on everything is becoming the norm as they try to isolate the sources and causes for so many wide spread deaths on a global scale. Antibacterials or AB's are now sought after in great supplies along with sanitary supplies like bleach and antibiotics. People are now becoming obsessive in their attempts to stay alive and even companies like AgriBiz have been trying to find safe food products and have worked to genetically modify things like wheat and corn to increase supply while trying to fight diseases.
The common cold, allergies, and other respiratory infections all become dangerous beyond discomfort. People, even close relatives, would shy away from an afflicted person. It was impossible to know what was causing an illness, and the illness caused symptoms that became shunned. A kind of stoning occurred when infected individuals ventured out in public with an audible cough. You could have called it a beating - it would have sounded more contemporary, less ancient - but the fact was no one wanted to touch an infected person. So throwing things - bricks, chunks of concrete, anything you found that was heavy and safe to pick up, though not garbage, obviously - at someone who coughed or sneezed was a safe way to eliminate a contaminating source, who happened to be a person, a person who ignited your deepest fear, the fear that a cold could kill you. After that, people with colds quarantined themselves, sought medical attention and called in sick. It was that or face the wrath of the terrorized public.
So foods became unsafe, first fresh vegetables and fruits, then pork, chicken and beef until all sources of those products were completely destroyed in an effect to contain whatever was killing people. Pretty soon the only thing that remained was government surplus products that were divided as an allotment based on your age and weight. Soon the government took things further creating groups designed to specifically looking for offenders to the bans and arrest or contain them as needed. Pretty soon even the population was controlled in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly bacteria, but were they killing themselves in the process?
I received Isolation by Denise R. Stephenson compliments of Virtual Authors Book Tours and Mill City Press for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions are strictly my own. Based on where we are headed with the recent introductions of GMO's into our food supply, what Denise has written could very well be a chilling future look at where we as a country might be headed. The controversy over the use of GMO's, overuse of antibacterial products and immunity of antibiotics are chilling to see the results of this played out over time. While this novel is science fiction, it could quite possibly give us insight into our own apocalyptic future. I'd rate this novel a 4 out of 5 stars based on my personal rating scale, which includes some profanity and sexual content.
Now for some great news, thanks to the generosity of Virtual Authors Book Tours and Denise R. Stephenson, they are offering a giveaway eBook copy of Isolation to one lucky follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are your details to enter.
1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.
2. "Like" Denise R. Stephenson's Facebook page and leave a comment.
3. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes.
4. Leave a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of the book. Don't forget to include your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.
I will be contacting the winner of the giveaway when it ends on June 25th by email so be sure to include it. Without it, I won't have a way to contact you. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the email notification. If I don't hear from you, I will redraw another winner.
For more information about Isolation, Denise R. Stephenson or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:
You can also find Denise R. Stephenson on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.
To read more reviews on Isolation, please visit Virtual Author's Blog Tours website.
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