BLOG TOUR: The Blue Hour by Vicki Righettini

HI there!

Welcome back to the Friday edition of Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

For those of you who celebrate it, HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!  May the day bring you luck, a chance to partake of some delicious Irish fare, and a severe lack of pinches because I know we ALL remembered to wear SOMETHING green...right?  *double checks outfit*  Anywho, let's get on with the show!

Today, we're playing host to a Virtual Author Book Tour starring a work of Historical Fiction via Mill City Press. It's a tale that will whisk you away to the old frontier as the western half of these United States was still being settled while ensconcing you in the lives of several memorable characters.  So, if you'll circle the wagons and prepare to depart, today's book of choice and blog tour guest is on deck...

Blue Hour

by

Vicki Righettini

Publisher: Mill City Press (Nov 17, 2015)
ISBN: 978-1634138291
Available in Print & ebook, 560 pages

 

About the book...

IN THIS EPIC TALE of love, loss, and redemption, the year is 1861, a time when women are expected to be married by a certain age. At 26, spinster Emily Wainwright has no reason to believe her sheltered life will ever change—until the charming Samuel Todd unexpectedly crosses her path. Samuel yearns to homestead and start a family in Oregon, but he first needs to find a wife. Blinded by Samuel’s good looks, and grasping at her final chance to have a husband and children, Emily accepts his marriage proposal. However, Samuel is not the man she thought he was, and her marriage becomes a cold, cruel prison, offering her no solace amidst the hardships of farm life. When Samuel dies and a second chance at love and happiness arrives in the form of farmhand Cole Walker, Emily must overcome her bitter past—or risk losing Cole and the life she has always dreamed of having.



Amazon |  Barnes&Noble  |  IndieBound  |  Book Depository


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the story of Emily Wainwright's climb from small town spinster of reputable name to married pioneer woman forging a life with her own two hands by her husband's side.  Sounds historically steeped with possibilities for moments of the heart and personal triumphs, right?  Oh, if only it were that rosy of a tale...

I was looking back at my GoodReads updates as I read this book and noticed a distinct direction to my thoughts along the way regarding both the story and the characters. Allow me to shed some light on those ruminations.  Emily was a sweetheart through and through, though a might stubborn which is what lands her in the situation as it is....but it is certainly not her fault.  While yes, she should have listened to her elders, and perhaps taken more heed of the town gossip about her instant suitor, she was blinded by love and the chance to start a life of her own.  Little did she know what hid behind the handsome facade, for if she did, the entire course of her life would have changed in an instant.  Looking back, despite the pain, sorrow, and abuse, I'm not so certain she would have changed anything for it made her the person she was, landed her in the life she now led, and allowed her to build that extended family, both blood and non, that she so long desired.  Straight through the final pages, she remains a stunning character with so much more strength than she even knows, both physical, mental, and of the heart.  Now for the a**hat....

The jerk du jour goes by the name of Samuel Todd (kin to Mary Todd Lincoln, but FAR FAR FAR from the apple tree!) and I kid you not, that moniker I bestowed on him is the NICEST thing I could say.  Those updates I mentioned looking back on?  Pretty much EVERY ONE included a note of how much I would love to climb through the pages and show him what's for.  I so wish that Emily would have taken Andrew up on his not-so-veiled offer to "help" with the situation when it was at its worst because honestly, he deserved SO MUCH WORSE.  He was one of the worst kinds of humans imaginable, and not simply a product of his day and age.  Samuel was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but wanted nothing to do with anything that was a sure bet, or on the up and up.  He loved nothing more than his gambling, drinking, and ladies of the night...and yet the final sting of his family disowning him, struck a cord somewhere within.  I won't say his heart because I'm not convinced he has one.  Anywho, it is he who misguides our fair lead, he who tries to break her spirit, he who brings all the horrors life can offer to her feet.  He deserved no much worse than he got, and certainly was not worthy of Miss Emily, but at least fate sees fit to find him in the end.

In the end, it was quite a remarkable journey to take thanks to the wonderful talent of this author. I'm as worn out as if I actually traversed the Oregon Trail with Miss Emily, myself, but in the best way possible. Her life and times were not ideal, nay many would call them even less than that, but she made them her own, and did more than simply survive.  I couldn't have cared more for the extensive cast of characters than if they were relations of my own.  Delia, Vina, Andrew, Joseph, Jack, Cole, Nettie....so many souls created to fill Miss Emily's world with much needed color and kindness that I won't soon forget.  Whether you're a fan of Historical Fiction or not, take a chance on this ode to the unbreakable nature of the human spirit that reminds us that even through the worst of times, love can conquer all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Praise for Blue Hour by Vicki Righettini

“All of Righettini’s characters are well-rounded, in particular Emily herself, whose personal growth throughout the novel is richly detailed and memorable.”-Historical Novel Society

 “This novel is about second chances and the courage needed to take them. The most compelling aspects of The Blue Hour are not the vivid, expansive descriptions of life on the vast (and seemingly never-ending) Oregon Trail or the well-drawn characters who dance (and often trudge) between hardship and hope. Instead, the brightest lights burst forth from nuanced moments tucked throughout the story. Read this book if you want to immerse yourself in the wilds of western America in the 1860s or get lost in the even denser wilderness of love and loss. Maybe this recommendation needs to be simplified even further – read this book. It’s exhilarating to root for a character who is trying to navigate uncharted territory and make the greatest discovery of all.”-Underground Book Reviews

“The Blue Hour is one of the finest historical novels I've ever read. You will love the author's writing and the detailed historical references. The characters are vividly portrayed, and I felt as if I knew them well. Long after I'd finished reading, I still thought about the story. It's part adventure, part love story, and part survival. Highly recommended.”-Ann Creel, Author



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the author...

Vicki Righettini is an award-winning, nationally produced playwright, and her recently-published historical novel, The Blue Hour, was a badge winner and Pitch Perfect Pick at Underground Books. Originally from Los Angeles, Vicki lived in Oregon for over twenty years, where she developed an abiding love of the land and the Oregon way of life. Before turning to full-time writing, she worked for forty years as a singer/actress and performing arts instructor. Her blog, Between a Book and a Hard Place, focuses on the ups and downs of the creative process (http://www.vickirighettini.com). Vicki lives in San Diego with her software-developer, Jeopardy!-champion husband, and the world's shyest cat.


 Facebook  |  Twitter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  

Special thanks to Teddy at Virtual Author Book Tours for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as to the author for the SIGNED copy for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now via Mill City Press, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.  Be sure to check out the other stops on this extensive tour for all sorts of bookish fun!

TOUR SCHEDULE

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Mar 3 - Kick Off, Interview, & Giveaway

Indie Review Behind the Scenes Mar 4 - 12 pm cst Live Interview

Rockin' Book Reviews Mar 6 - Review, Interview, & Giveaway

 Second Book to the Right Mar 7 - Excerpt

 Book Reviews Etc.. Mar 8 - Review

 The Book Diva's Reads Mar 9 - Guest Post & Giveaway

 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers Mar 17 - Review

Secret Pearls Reviews Mar 22 - Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

 Infinite House of Books Mar 23 - Interview

 Reviews From The Heart Mar 27 - Review

 A Holland Reads Mar 29 - Guest Post

 Rainy Day Reviews Mar 31 - Review

 Wall-to-wall books Apr 4 - Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

 Library of Clean Reads Apr 5 - Review & Giveaway 

Reading Bliss Apr 7 - Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway 

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Apr 10 - Review 

Hardcover Feedback Apr 18 - Review 

What U Talking Bout Willis? Apr 21 - Review

 Lisa's Writopia Apr 24 - Review & Interview 

Celticlady's Reviews Apr 26 - Excerpt & Giveaway

 A Room without Books is Empty Apr 27 - Review

 Turning the Pages Apr 28 - Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!

BLOG TOUR: My Grandfather's Pants by Tegon Maus

Hi guys and gals!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're joining a Virtual Author Book Tour already in progress to bring you a work of Fiction, unlike many you've probably read.  So, if you're all packed and ready to go, on a book journey that is, allow me to lead the way to today's ebook of choice...

My Grandfather's Pants 

by 

Tegon Maus

Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing (Jan 21, 2014) 

Category: Contemporary Romance, Humor, Romantic Comedy, Suspense 

Tour Dates: Oct/Nov, 2016 

ASIN: B00HZH5A7O 

Available in: ebook, 164 Pages

About the book...

Jack Laskin is an ordinary man. More than ordinary according to some. Running the family hardware store and a life that would bore a snail, nothing exciting ever seems to happen to him. Then, at his mother’s urging, he tries on a pair of his late grandfather's old pants and everything changes -- most importantly his emerging love life. It's not long before his mother and her meddling friends get involved. When an old friend of his grandfather’s tells Jack he has something she wants, his new-found life takes another turn. Having no idea what he is supposed to have, Jack looks to his girlfriend, Connie, and her brother, Robert, for help. In the end, the answers will all be found in his Grandfather’s Pants.

Amazon  |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo   |  Smashwords

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, here's the thing...either I misread the synopsis in my haste to partake of this reading adventure, or the author is brilliant at cloak and dagger work because seriously, I never saw pretty much ANY of what's to come...coming.  That my friends led to some mixed results...

We begin with a tale of an elders passage to the great beyond, and the imparting of belongings left behind to loved ones young and old.   Jack gets among other things...a pair of pants.  I know, whoop de doo?!  Who wants an old pair of pants?!  Who indeed...unless they are magical.  Now see, some of you are thinking along the lines of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants sort of magical right now, I can tell...because so was I.  These pants however are actually imbued with magic but they are not simply to make you feel better, stand straighter, and let your ambitions be your guide kind of magical workings.  True, they DO do those things, but they apparently also allow the wearer to be consistently mistaken for the former owner (i.e. Jack's granddad, Henry) and attract the silver haired opposite sex like bees to honey.  No...I'm not joking,,,and it gets even more interesting from there.

With Jack attempting to get his own life under control, the introduction of the pants just puts everything on super spin.  We've got family secrets crawling out of the woodwork, a stuffed hippo that is apparently the thing to have because a few risk or lose their lives trying to get it, a woman with the power to wipe you off the face of the earth without breaking a nail, attractive women who act as bait, surly hit-men the sneak in, steal your sandwich, and leave you to fight for your life no matter how bloody you're being beaten...shall I continue?  Well, no matter...I won't be.  It's not something that can be easily explained...it must be experienced.  That being said,..

In the end, I must say that this book and I parted ways with no more than a partial backward glance.  It just wasn't for me, though I think my preconceived notions from the "about the book" are what caused the warp there, but that doesn't mean you won't think it's the best thing since sliced bread, or at least as entertaining as this year's election.  *wink*  Word to the wise...ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Tegon Maus

Tegon Maus was raised pretty much the same as everyone else… devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends he could conjure. Not that he wasn’t friendly, he just wasn’t “people orientated”. Maybe he lived in his head way more than he should have, maybe not. He liked machines more than people, at least he did until I met his wife. The first thing he can remember writing was for her. For the life of him he can’t remember what it was about… something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married him shortly after that. He spent a good number of years chasing other dreams before he got back to writing. It wasn’t a deliberate conscious thought, it was more of a stepping stone. His wife and himself had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. “Be as detailed as you can,” we were told. He was thrilled. If there is one thing he enjoys it’s making people believe him and he likes to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mind you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn’t be sure if it were true or not. When he writes, he always write with the effort of “it could happen” very much in mind and nothing, he guarantees you, nothing, makes him happier. He has consistently placed in the top 3 in 189 writing contest in a variety of genres and has been featured in magazines a couple of times to raise money for Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Tegon Maus 

Connect with the author...

Author on Tirgearr Website: http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Maus_Tegon/ 

 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TegonMaus 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tegon-Maus/150255051766767 

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/tegon/tegon-maus/ 

Google+: https://plus.google.com/101974688416833509592/posts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow My Grandfather's Pants by Tegon Maus Tour

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct 3 Interview & Giveaway 

  Rainy Day Reviews Oct 4 Review & Excerpt 

  SolaFide Book Club Oct 5 Guest Post 

  Rockin' Book Reviews Oct 6 Guest Post & Giveaway 

  Pomegranate Radio Oct 7 Review 

  Christy's Cozy Corners Oct 10 Review & Giveaway

Cindy's Notebook Oct 13 Review 

  Christa Reads and Writes Oct 18 Review & Giveaway 

  StoreyBook Reviews Oct 19 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway 

   Lisa's Writopia Oct 24 Review 

  Infinite House of Books Oct 25 Excerpt 

  fuonlyknew Oct 27 Review & Giveaway 

  Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers Nov 2 Review 

  Carole Rae's Random Ramblings Nov 4 Review 

  Books, books, and more books Nov 8 Review 

  JBronder Book Reviews Nov 16 Review & Guest Post 

  Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 22 Review 

  Bassgiraffe's Thoughts Nov 30 Review

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Special thanks to Teddy at Virtual Author Book Tours for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as the ebook for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title, the author, THIS TOUR, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer for a download today.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!