Archive for July 17, 2012

I have been waiting for this book to be released since way back in April. It’s finally happened and now I get to read it!

Blurb from Goodreads

Ten -year-old Jack James has a secret. He’s found a teddy bear he swears is really a mysterious animal with supernatural abilities. Soon he discovers its name is Takota, a Tanakee on the run from some ruthless and sinister forces. After a storytelling enchantress teaches them of a centuries-old bond between humans and Tanakee as well as an ancient evil bent on destroying the entire universe, Jack and Takota are thrust toward their shared fate. On their journey for survival, Takota must conquer strong inner turmoil and learn the true nature of his emerging mystical powers, while Jack has to help harness a revolutionary device invented by his father in the hopes of rescuing them all from certain extinction.

Sounds great! You know you want it!

I can’t wait to read and review Tribe of the Teddy Bear so I can tell you all about my experience.

To find out more about this book and the author J. Joseph Wright go here: http://windwhisperwoods.wordpress.com/

To buy you own copy just click on the cover image.

I’ll be back soon with my review.

I am once again drawn to another Historical Romance.

Willow Vale reads like a true story, but Alethea assures us it is not. In her words:

“There is a legend growing around my novel, Willow Vale. While I am flattered that readers think Willow Vale is a true story, the fact is that my fictional account of Francesca Sittoni’s adventures of coming to America is truly just that: fiction…”

Alethea takes you back in time. Back to the 1920’s.

Willow Vale follows the life of Francesca Sittoni. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she and her young daughter are forced to immigrate to America with her husband. They settle into a life of hardship in a coal mining town in Wyoming.

Frances, pregnant, is left to fend for herself and her young daughter when she loses her husband to a mining accident. Fear and desperation drive her to answer an ad from Kent Reed, a twice burned Wyoming rancher.

 Amidst crowded quarters, these two grow to understand and respect each other, and maybe more.

Alethea has done her research. You can feel it in the richness of her detailed scenes, the familiarity they bring.

Here are some scenes that reached out to me:

“How she missed that sense of belonging to the land. Even though in the end Val di Non has failed to sustain her, she still loved the lush valley of her birth and wished she could find that love of place once again. That sense of belonging which she had yet to find in America.”

“If he had been a praying man, he never would have imagined that the answers to his prayers would be a pregnant Italian war survivor with a small child. It was all too strange, too unbelievable that after all they had endured, in France, Italy and then the raw new land of Wyoming in the United States, he and Francesca should both end up on his small ranch in Willow Vale. Strange…and wonderful…and terrifying.”

A superbly written tale of survival, of loss and of hope, Willow Vale is an easy, smooth read all the way to a most satisfying ending.

If you like reading about days gone by and romance with all its raw emotions, you really must read Willow Vale. My descriptions pale in comparison to Alethea’s writing. I really enjoyed the adventure.

4 STARS

From Alethea:

Western history has been the great interest of my adult life. I’ve lived in Wyoming, Colorado, and now Oregon. Although an amateur historian, I am happiest researching different times and places in the historical West. And while staying true to history, I try not to let the facts overwhelm my stories. Story always comes first in my novels, and plot arises from the relationships between my characters.  I’m always open to your response to my writing. You can comment on Willow Vale or ask questions about me or my work at:

http://www.actuallyalethea.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/AletheaWilliams.author

I look forward to hearing from you.

Other books by Alethea Williams

First published as a monthly series of columns in the Green River Star, Green River, Wyoming, 1999 and 2000.

To purchase either of these books, just click on the cover images.