THIS FAMILIAR HEART by Babette Fraser Hale – Book Blog Tour: Review

THIS FAMILIAR HEART:
AN IMPROBABLE LOVE STORY
by
Babette Fraser Hale
Memoir / Relationships / Aging / Grief
Publisher: Winedale Publishing
Date of Publication: April 2, 2024
Number of Pages: 312 pages

In this intimate rendering of a relationship, we learn how deceptive surface impressions can be.

Leon Hale, author of Bonney’s Place, was sixty years old, a “country boy” who wrote about rural Texans with humor and sensitivity in his popular column for The Houston Post and, later the Houston Chronicle. Babette Fraser at thirty-six was a child of privilege, a city girl educated abroad, struggling in her career while raising a young son. No one thought it could work.

Even Hale himself held serious doubts. But it did endure. The interior congruencies they discovered through a long and turbulent courtship knit them tightly together for the rest of his life.

And when he died during the Pandemic isolation period, searing levels of grief and doubt threatened Babette’s understanding of the partnership and marriage that had sustained her for forty years. Had he really been the person she thought he was? Had he kept secrets that would forever change her view of him?

In candid, evocative prose, she explores the distorted perceptions that often follow the death of a cherished spouse, and the loving resolution that allows life to go on.

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This Familiar Heart is such an affecting read, my review reads more like a sharing of my feelings rather than a formal literary critique.
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The act of writing is both a disclosure and a construct.”
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– I loved the present-tense narration because it places the reader right smack in the middle of the story as the events unfold. Surprisingly, I also liked the occasional interspersing of first-person memories/clarifications by Ms. Hale. I don’t usually appreciate such a device in fiction because it breaks up the flow of the story but it works for this memoir.
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… a sort of other-worldly vibe that makes his presence in the room feel like kind of a gift.”
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– Leon Hale’s POV feels authentic. His voice comes out strong. It’s as if he wrote the words himself. The depiction of him is realistic with many of his flaws and virtues equally revealed. This is excellent writing that could only come from someone who knows him deeply and who loves him greatly.
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Then there was that electricity–what I call his ‘shimmer’.”
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– I swooned at the romance, the instantaneous attraction, the palpable chemistry that leaps off the pages. Ms. Hale captured everything–the fears, confusion, and tears, the joys and thrills, the pushes and pulls–so vividly, it’s like a romance novel within a memoir. Except in this book the age gap, the disparity in economic backgrounds, and the emotional wounds are not mere tropes, they’re lived experiences.
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– I absolutely adore the letters. The bravery to lay oneself vulnerable in sharing something so personal amazes me. The fluidity and lyricism in the language are astounding and truly enviable. It’s a privilege to get a close glimpse into the lives of such remarkable people as Leon Hale and Babette Fraser Hale.
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You’ll hurt for a while, but you’ll be all right.”
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-The last part of this book was so hard to read. Tears clouded my vision for hours after I put the book down. But my difficulty for sure could not compare with the pain Ms. Hale had to go through in reliving those dark months. I have so much respect and admiration for her and gratitude for sharing her life and love with the world.
4 Four-half-stars

Babette Fraser Hale is the author of A Wall of Bright Dead Feathers, 2022 winner of the debut fiction award from the Texas Institute of Letters. Her stories have received notice from Best American Short Stories, 2015 and the Meyerson Award from Southwest Review. In addition to writing fiction, Babette has been a magazine feature writer, columnist, contributing editor, book editor, and publisher. She lives in Texas.

WHAT KIND OF DAY by Mina V. Esguerra – Happy Book Birthday

WHAT KIND OF DAY

Mina V. Esguerra
WKoD.cover.kindle.preview

It’s a bad day for Ben. After years of earnest work, he’s been fired from his job as a speechwriter for a Philippine senator. Name tarnished and bridges burned, he steps into what he thinks is a shuttle ride home, and accidentally joins a tour of his own city.

It was supposed to be a good day for Naya. Her passion is traveling, her hobby is discovering cool things to see and do, and taking people on tours of Metro Manila is her only job right now. An extra person at the last minute isn’t ideal, especially if the person is a former colleague and the subject of the day’s hottest political trash fire. But work is work, and she decides to let him stay in the tour.

She’s hoping she won’t regret it. He’s hoping his day turns around. What kind of day could it be? Maybe the best kind.

 

Now Available from:

Amazon: bit.ly/six32central1
Apple iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/what-kind-of-day/id1382820491?mt=11
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ph/en/ebook/what-kind-of-day
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/825644
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-kind-of-day-mina-v-esguerra/1128633588?ean=2940155248453
Gumroad: gum.co/six32central1
Print order form (Philippines): bit.ly/mvebooks

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REVIEW

I’ve had a couple of Mina’s books for a while now, but I’ve kept them on my TBR still unread. This May, in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I decided to prioritize romance novels written by authors from the Pacific region and/or set there. When the opportunity to receive an ARC of Mina’s latest book came, I took it right away.

I had been expecting New Adult characters and storyline and was pleasantly surprised by the maturity of the themes in What Kind of Day. I didn’t think I was going to be able to relate to Naya and Ben at all. I was happy to be proven wrong. It helped that I have family and friends in the Philippines who are in politics. The situation that Ben found himself in sounded true to me. Same with Naya floating around with her hobby. Yep. Been there, done that at the same age.

Now, for the romance. The speed of the physical hook-up was unexpected. Yes, there was a proper build-up of mutual attraction, but I didn’t think they’d act on it so quickly. It worked for the story, however. It gave them a bond that would not have been there if they just went their separate ways that first day. It reminded me of Before Sunrise in some ways, which I love.

A final note – I haven’t lived in the Philippines for fifteen years so I appreciate the “See This Manila” tour. If it exists in real life, I’d do it when I go back in July.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mina authorMina V. Esguerra writes contemporary romance novellas. Visit her website minavesguerra.com for more about her books, talks, and events.

When not writing romance, she is president of communications firm Bronze Age Media, a development communication consultant, and a publisher. She created the workshop series “Author at Once” for writers and publishers, and #romanceclass for aspiring romance writers. Her young adult/fantasy trilogy Interim Goddess of Love is a college love story featuring gods from Philippine mythology. Her contemporary romance novellas won the Filipino Readers’ Choice awards for Chick Lit in 2012 (Fairy Tale Fail) and 2013 (That Kind of Guy).

Twitter/Instagram: @minavesguerra
FB: facebook.com/minavesguerra

MORNINGS ON MAIN By Jodi Thomas Book Review

BNR Mornings on Main JPG

MORNINGS ON MAIN:

A Small-Town Texas Novel

by

Jodi Thomas

Genre: Mainstream Romance

Publisher: HQN

Number of Pages: 320 pages

AVAILABLE APRIL 10, 2018!

 

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MORNINGS ON MAIN by Jodi Thomas is a lovely read. It’s the perfect way to spend a cold spring day: curled up on your favorite reading nook with a cup of tea in one hand and a delightful book in another. Incredibly well-written, this book took me to a small town, introduced me to the people living there, and made me like them and care about them. There are plenty of characters, but the book always centered on Jillian, Connor, and Sunnie — the three whose points-of-view we rely on to tell the story. These are normal, real people with every day problems that everyone can relate to — growing up, growing old, leaving, staying, and taking risks to fall in love or continue drifting.

I appreciate Jillian and Connor’s sweet slow-burn fall into love. You can see how it developed throughout the length of the book. I also enjoyed Gram and Joe, the quilts, and the town’s coming-to-life side stories. MNotable Quotable 1 Mornings on Mainy favorite part of the book, though, is Sunnie. Her growth as a character from the sullen, resentful child in the beginning to the warm, lovable, funny teenager at the end brought a smile to my face.

I’m rating Mornings on Main four stars. Jillian’s storyline with her parents remained unresolved. I’d have liked for her to find a more definitive closure than what she got. Other than that, I found this book heartwarming and I’d recommend it to everyone who likes small town reads with a sweet romance.

 

Synopsis

Cover high res Mornings on Main

Jillian James has never had a place to call home. Desperate to make some quick cash before moving on again, she agrees to help an elderly woman close her beloved quilt shop. Connor Larady’s grandmother has owned the shop all her life, but lately she has struggled with Alzheimer’s. Connor’s seventeen-year-old daughter has spent her whole life in Laurel Springs, Texas, and she feels restless. When Jillian moves to town, she represents travel, adventure and excitement. Weaving together the story of three generations of women looking for a place to belong, Mornings on Main asks us to consider how we make our memories—what we remember, what we forget, what becomes part of our story—and remind us that it’s not where we live, but how we live that counts.

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AboutTheAuthor

With millions of books in print, Jodi Thomas Author Pic Thomasis both a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 45 novels and 14 short story collections. Her stories travel through the past and present days of Texas and draw readers from around the world.

In July 2006, Jodi was the 11th writer to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. With five RITA’s to her credit, along with National Readers’ Choice Awards and Booksellers’ Best Awards, Thomas has proven her skill as a master storyteller.

Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, Thomas enjoys interacting with students at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence.

When not working on a novel, or inspiring students to pursue writing careers, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating an historic home, and “checking up” on their grown sons and four grandchildren.

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CHECK OUT JODI’S VIDEO WALK THE LAND!

 

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