The Lost Melody

GIVEAWAY

POLITANO, JOANNA DAVIDSON

THE LOST MELODY

When concert pianist Vivienne Mourdant's father dies, he leaves to her the care of an adult ward she knew nothing about. The woman is supposedly a patient at Hurstwell Asylum. The woman's portrait is shockingly familiar to Vivienne, so when the asylum claims she was never a patient there, Vivienne is compelled to discover what happened to the figure she remembers from childhood dreams.

The longer she lingers in the deep shadows and forgotten towers at Hurstwell, the fuzzier the line between sanity and madness becomes. She hears music no one else does, received strange missives with rose petals between the pages, and untangles far more than is safe for her to know. But can she uncover the truth about the mysterious woman she seeks? And is there anyone at Hurstwell she can trust with her suspicions?

Fan-favourite Joanna Davidson Politano casts a delightful spell with this lyrical look into the nature of women's independence and artistic expression during the Victorian era -- and now.

My Review:

Well now, what to say without saying too much?! Such a quandary for a reviewer, because I'd actually like to say quite a lot. Revel in the story, dissect the plot elements, ponder the character arcs, bask in the spiritual aspects --but I can't do that without spoilers so, I'll curb my desire to exclaim over details...though, really, this would make a fantastic book club selection for so many reasons! What I can say is this:

Politano has created an incredibly atmospheric read. There's a such a sense of desperation that enhances the eerie ambiance. This isn't a light read -- it's about a Victorian-era insane asylum, after all, and especially highlights the plight of women who are at the mercy of men. Though it also addresses the poor and downtrodden as well. And anyone deemed different from the 'norm.' I'll let your imagination reign over that for a minute, and admit that I found the setting all the more disturbing because it's based on fact. 

And yet, the author shines light into that darkness, in particular, through Vivienne's walk with God. Her prayers, her anguish as she fiercely seeks to understand where He is in the midst of such depravity. And through her searching, she comes to understand that she can be the light. So many simple yet eloquent faith statements within these pages! 

There are mysteries at Hurstwell -- yes, more than one but they are all tangled up in a knot pulled so tight it seems impossible to unravel. I actually woke up in the middle of the night trying to figure out what on earth was going on! Like I was subconsciously trying to work things out in my sleep! Talk about becoming enmeshed in a story world!

And, for romance lovers like me, there is the hint of a love story here. I wouldn't categorize 'The Lost Melody' as a Romance, though. Definitely Historical Fiction and Mystery.

Though I received a paperback copy from the publisher, I also purchased the audible edition and really enjoyed Amy Scanlon's narration.

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

Goal Update: #5 Diversify my reading

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway a paperback copy

If you would like a chance to win a copy of   The Lost Melody, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. 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 November 19 2022 . Offer open to International Readers.

A Midnight Dance

GIVEAWAY

POLITANO, JOANNA DAVIDSON

A MIDNIGHT DANCE

The best moments in dance are the unscripted ones.

At their core, all theatre romances are tragedies. Ella Blythe knows this. Still, she cannot help but hope her own story may turn out different than most  -- and certainly different than the tragic story of the Ghost of Craven Street Theatre.

After a chance encounter with one of the ballet company's handsome dancers late one night, Ella is swept off her elegantly pointed toes. The dance they share and the promise he makes to her feel like a new beginning. Yet as she faces mounting challenges in the ever-shrinking ballet company, Ella cannot deny the uncanny feeling that her life is mirroring that of the ghostly ballerina.

Is she dancing ever closer to the edge of her own disastrous end? Or will the secrets that are about to come to light offer release from the unyielding grip of the past?

My Review:

Well now,...just...whooosh! That's me letting out a pent up of breath of equal parts astonishment and frustration. I don't quite know what to say about this novel except to offer a bit of friend-to-reader-friend advice:

Keep reading. Don't second guess yourself. Shake off the feeling that you've missed some critical plot point and resist the temptation to go back hunting for it. Truly, you likely haven't missed a thing. The author is that clever at her craft that all the reveals, both big and small, come at exactly the right time...and it won't be fast enough for you but at the same time it'll seem like the story is full of sudden revelations. So many 'aha' moments and a few 'shut the front door -- whaaaaaattttt?!' ones too. 

Atmospheric in a classical gothic way. There's a heaviness at times, and so many layers of mystery to wade through! And if you're a fan of the ballet, you'll be disillusioned over it's sordid beginnings. Really, I had no idea! I love Ella's determination to avoid all that and let her pure love of dance be her motivation, but it's when she discovers a way to incorporate her deeply rooted faith into her performances that her life really begins to change. And I was touched and encouraged by God's pursuit of one particular character. So much reluctance met with infinite grace. 

Astoundingly brilliant, really.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of A Midnight Dance, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add your email to a 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 January 22 2022. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck

The Love Note

GIVEAWAY

POLITANO, JOANNA DAVIDSON

THE LOVE NOTE

A forgotten letter. A secret love. A vast estate.

Can one determined woman put the pieces together?

Focused on a career in medicine and not on romance, Willa Duvall is thrown slightly off course during the summer of 1865 when she discoveres a never-opened love letter in a crack of her old writing desk. Compelled to find the passionate soul who penned it and the person who never received it, she takes a job as a nurse at the seaside estate of Crestwicke Manor.

Everyone at Crestwicke has feelings -- mostly negative ones -- about the man who wrote the letter, but he seems to have disappeared. With plenty of enticing clues but few answers, Willa's search becomes even more complicated when she misplaces the letter and it passes from person to person in the house, each finding a thrilling or disheartening message in its words.

Laced with mysteries large and small, this romantic Victorian-era tale of love lost, love deferred, and love found is sure to delight.

My Review:

This book has left me gobsmacked speechless so I'm struggling to find words to convey my impressions. Here they are in my tizzy-stated randomness:

Not what I expected going into the read. The story unfolded in surprising ways with stunning results.

The idea of a lost love letter is brilliant! And the way it is intricately woven into the plot, creating twists and turns I didn't see coming....well, brilliantly brilliant!!! (and yes, I realize that's redundant but that's what this book has done to me.) Because...at one point, towards the end, that letter took on new meaning for me that left me in an astonished stupor because....whoa...you need to read the book!

Such fabulously complicated characters! The kind a reader feels an instant emotional connection to -- whether that be good or bad or somewhere in between. And the way Willa's arrival becomes the catalyst for change for them all.

One of my favourite secondary characters is delightfully befuddled Aunt Maisie whose sharp wit and astute insight defy her Crazy Maisie persona.

"I collect words so I won't lose them all into the black hole of feeblemindedness. When words are all you have, it suddenly makes you want to keep as many as you can so you can use them when you have need." (p 99)

Which brings me to the divine inspirational themes layered into this story. Especially Willa's spiritual growth as she tries to figure out what her future holds...or should hold.

"Why can't I ever seem to say the right thing? My words...they're still wrong, Aunt Maisie."

"Because they're yours." She hobbled close and rested a crooked hand on my arm. "Make your heart a deep well of the Almighty by saturating yourself in his presence, and your words will come out drenched in him no matter what your say. I promise you, no matter how many brilliant things you have to say, he has better ones." ( p 205-206)

The Love Note is a celebration of words and how they build our stories -- and His Story -- and the truth at the heart of them all.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Love Note, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. 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 winners announced on Saturday April 17  2021. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

Finding Lady Enderly

GIVEAWAY

POLITANO, JOANNA DAVIDSON
FINDING LADY ENDERLY

Raina Bretton is a rag woman in London's east end when a handsome stranger appears in a dank alley and offers her a glittering smile and a chance for adventure. Rathburne Abbey has a unique position for her, one that will take her away from her hardscrabble life and give her a chance to be a lady. Things she could only dream of might be coming true. But some dreams turn out to be nightmares.

Though Raina has traded squalor for silk and satin, something about the abbey is deeply unsettling. As she wrestles with her true identity, the ruin, decay, and secrets she finds at the heart of the old mansion tear at her confidence and threaten to reveal her for who she really is. Only one man stands between her and the danger that lurks within -- and only if he decides to keep her biggest secret hidden.

My Review:

I've been well and truly gobsmacked. Again! This is another book that defies description, but, of course, I'll try! It's everything grand in a historical multiplied by a thousand more goodness! The kind of story that kidnaps an unsuspecting reader and holds her hostage until the very last page and then, when she's finally released, she doesn't want her freedom. It's the kind of book that almost ruins you for any others. Almost. I'm hyperventilating over that thought. Rest assured, I didn't lose my passion for reading but I might have wallowed in the boohoo-my-book-is-over-now-what-shall-I-do blues for awhile.

One of the most captivating things about Finding Lady Enderly was that I never knew what to expect. Nothing is predictable! Just when I thought I knew which way was up...it wasn't! And I was on edge the whole read! Like ants-in-my-pants wriggling in anticipation half the time and cowering under the covers in dread the other half! I do so love being fully engulfed in a reading experience!

And the romance...be still my heart! This is seriously one toe-curling thrill of a love story despite (or because) the couple don't spend a lot of page time together. But the furtive way they arrange to communicate sent this bibliophile's heart a-racing! One of the best parts of the book!!!!!!

A richly layered masterpiece of exquisite reading pleasure!

Sidenote: I listened to the audible edition which is amazing! And sweet torture because there's no way to race ahead to get through the gnarly bits -- a listener must hang on to every blessed word spoken by narrator Sarah Nichols. I was on the verge of a heart attack all the way through!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Finding Lady Enderly, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. 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 7 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

A Rumored Fortune

GIVEAWAY

POLITANO, JOANNA DAVIDSON
A RUMORED FORTUNE

Welcome to Trevelyan Castle, home of the poorest heiress in Victorian England.

Tressa Harlow's father kept his vast fortune hidden somewhere on his estate in the south of England and died suddenly, without telling anyone where he had concealed it. No Tressa and her ailing mother are left with a mansion and an immense vineyard and no money to runi ti.

It doesn't take long for a bevy of opportunites to flock to the estate under the guise of offering condolences. Tressa knows what they're really up to. She'll have to work with the rough and rusticated vineyard manager to keep the laborers content without pay and discover the key to finding her father's fortune -- before someone else finds it first.

My Review:

SQQQQEEEEPPPPP!!!!! Sorry for the shattered eardrums but this book is worthy of the combined squealing and eeeping hullaboo I reserve for a sacred few exceptional novels. I'm still all shivery delight as I think back on this story.

Mainly because of the distinctive Gothic style. It creeps in on the very first page and continues on right to the end. A heroine in peril. A hero with secrets. A sinister pall casting dark shadows over Trevelyan Castle. And so many characters with nefarious purposes. An absolute page-turner!

And exquisitely told! So beautifully written that it begs to be read aloud. The kind of words you want to savor -- so much so that sometimes I'd read a passage over again just to let it sink into my bookish soul! .

And then there's Donegan Vance. Just typing his name sends me into a swooning tailspin! Wooooeeeeee! So mysterious and austere. But unexpectedly kind. Stalwart. Tortured. This is one complex man. Drawn to Tressa Harlowe even though he finds his fascination 'utterly absurd'. They come from different worlds. She's the princess of the castle. He's a lowly servant.

"No matter if she was intelligent and interesting, passionate and spirited, beautiful and bewitching to the extreme. She could be everything he'd ever hoped to find, but it mattered little if he was nothing of what she sought for herself." (p 164)

Tressa is the classical Gothic heroine. Reduced circumstances. A mystery to solve. Encroaching danger. Surrounded by people more intent on harming her than helping her. And who can she trust? My tummy jumbled up in knots over some of the decisions she made. I became an anxiety-addled reader! The only thing that soothed my taut nerves was the knowledge that Donegan was just a page or two away. :-)

And, oh goodness, their banter! Barbed words followed by tender ones. Passion vying with wry amusement. Completely, utterly delicious. Every. Single. Word.

And the piece de resistance is the inspirational thread expertly woven throughout as the author uses the vineyard as a metaphor for God's love....blew me away!

"Finally she spoke. "I can only take so much pruning," she whispered. "Why is God doing this to me? He's...he's pruning the very life out of me."

"No, he's bringing you to life. It takes a harsh summer to yield abundance in the vineyards. Perhaps this is your summer." (p 281)

Enchanting and captivating and just plain old really, really good!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of A Rumored Fortune, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. 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 Sunday November 18 2018. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

Lady Jayne Disappears

GIVEAWAY

POLITANO, JOANNA DAVIDSON
LADY JAYNE DISAPPEARS

Lynhurst Manor is a house built on secrets...
and the arrival of Aurelie Harcourt might reveal them all.

When Aurelie Harcourt's father dies suddenly, he leaves her just two things: his famous pen name, Nathaniel Droll, and his wealthy family -- who want very little to do with her.

As Aurelie struggles to find a home with her father's family and learn the rules of society, she relishes in his parting gift -- the beginning of his last story. The story she always wanted to hear, about her mother's mysterious disappearance from the home where she now lives. To complete the novel, she'll have to extract clues from relatives -- and one engimatic houseguest -- who often seem reluctant to give them up.

My Review:

"How amazing, how humble, was this girl who broke herself into a million pieces and distributed them to any who had need." (p 65)

Exquisitely written. Breathtakingly beautiful both in words and in substance. The kind of story you want to nestle into forever. Savor every nuance. Bask in the vivid impressions the author's words conjure up. Images that need to seep into your soul before proceeding any further into the story. And if you stop to record the most quotable of quotes it might just take you a week to finish Lady Jayne Disappears. And you won't mind a bit because it means you get to spend more time in the story. More time with the characters. More time figuring out the mystery (but I bet you won't!)

There's a story within this story. And it celebrates writers, readers and the written word. In short, it's a bibliophile's dream. I didn't realize I was craving a novel like this until I held it in my hands and even now that I've finished, I can't bring myself to shelve it. I want to keep it close for when I need a book hug. Or profound wisdom on my faith journey and my relationship with God. Or delightfully witty and insightful commentaries on the power in stories. Because my copy is riddled with sticky-note flags that ensure I won't lose a single gem.

Captivating from the very first page. Aurelie is shrouded in mystery. But then so is Silas. Loved their interactions -- the delicious undercurrents that promise a deeper connection than mere acquaintances. And the way the story unfolds -- so many intricate threads running amok causing chaos and confusion and yet Politano manages to weave them altogether by the end. And it's the kind of ending that amazes and astounds and leaves a reader bereft because you just don't want it to be over. Ever.

A stunning debut novel. I want more from Joanna Davidson Politano. Right now. Please.

God answers prayers..."Not in one big powerful move, but gradually so I don't notice until I've turned around and see that I have exactly what I need." (p 225)

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Lady Jayne Disappears, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a 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 for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday February 11 2018. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!