Blog Tour: WORDS FOR PATTY JO by Jill Arlene Culiner

WORDS FOR PATTY JO

by Jill Arlene Culiner

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GENRE: Women’s Fiction

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BLURB:

A passion for books creates a lasting bond between teenage Patty Jo and David, but small-town prejudice and social differences doom their romance.

After a summer of reading and falling in love, David heads for university, foreign adventure, and a dazzling career; Patty Jo marries slick, over-confident Don Ried.

Yet plans can go horribly wrong. The victim of her violent husband, Patty Jo abandons her home and children to live on the streets of Toronto. David, a high-ranking executive in Paris, is dismayed by the superficiality of corporate success.

Forty years later, Patty Jo and David meet again. Both have defied society; both have fulfilled their dreams. And what if first love was the right one after all, and destiny has the last word?

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Excerpt Three:

Long after he has settled into the narrow bed he has been allocated, he hears the faint tinkle of music. Halfheartedly, he again dresses, pulls on his boots, and goes to explore. Far behind, in the manor’s main house, lights are gleaming. His nose pressed against one high window, he discovers a chandelier-lit room where debonair people waltz to an excellent orchestra. It is a throwback scene, a vision as entrancing—and inaccessible—as any ball centuries before.

In the morning, he wakes with a long-forgotten rush of hope. This is his last day of walking, but he finally has an answer. He knows what is missing in his life. Wonder. And magic. Surely, he’s not too old for such splendid things.

Once upon a time he’d known both, and they’d been woven out of simplicity: limpid summers, wavelets on a shore, pines, cedars, a glimpse of gentle fingers toying with a boat’s scraggy painter, sun on leaves, cowbells on a Swiss mountain, the endless churn of water in an old English watermill. Perhaps, by taking small but certain steps, he can bring both wonder and magic back into his life, realize a dream or two: some people would call this an epiphany.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Writer, artist, and teller of tall tales, Jill (J.) Arlene Culiner, was born in New York and raised in Toronto. She has crossed much of Europe on foot, has lived on the Great Hungarian Plain, in a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, and a haunted house on the English moors. She now resides in a 400-year-old former inn in a French village where she protects spiders, snakes, and weeds. She delights in hearing any nasty, funny, ridiculous, or romantic story, and when she can’t uncover gossip, she makes it up.

She has won the Tanenbaum Prize in Canadian Jewish History, the 2024 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Memoir, was shortlisted for the Foreword Magazine Prize, and twice for the Page Turner Awards.

http://www.j-arleneculiner.com

https://www.jill-culiner.com

All Links: https://linktr.ee/j.arleneculiner

Storytelling: https://soundcloud.com/j-arlene-culiner

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jculiner

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7158064.J_Arlene_Culiner

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jarlene.culiner/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JArleneCuliner

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Jill Arlene Culiner will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

Review: I KNOW WHAT YOU DID by NL Hinkens

 

This begins with a school counselor’s mission to adopt a high school girl’s unborn baby. The problem was to convince everyone on it—the girl, the mother, and her husband.

 

It seemed Jo could finally get her baby. But the elation was short-lived with the sudden news of another teacher’s disappearance. The next one that goes missing is the father of the unborn baby. Soon, both people turn up dead. Was this a double-suicide? A murder-suicide? Or what?

 

The story might’ve taken a while to get going, but when it does, it really grabs you.

 

Months later, it seems everyone has gotten over the suicides of the teacher and student, especially the significant others they left behind. Eventually, Jo begins to have suspicions about the biological mother of her baby. This turns out to be a pretty long story, but its mystery still compels you to read on. Not quite as thrilling and suspenseful as other books by this author, but this was still a good read.

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: HOBBIES AND HOMICIDED by Cindy Bell

 

Yoga on the beach. What could be better? Only a dead body on the beach could ruin it. It looked like the victim was struck with a metal detector and belonged to a club for it. It seemed the metal detector club was hiding something. But what? It was up to the B&B owners to find out!

 

Who would’ve thought that hobbies could kill? A good mystery!

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: HOUSE OF SHIVERS: GOBLIN MONDAY by R.L. Stine

 

Mario was so excited to see snow for the first time in his life. He knew he would have a great time visiting his friends’ grandparents. The grandpa, in particular, was a master storyteller, who shared something about goblins in the garden. But they weren’t real…right?

 

This was another classic Stine story. I certainly didn’t like the part about the dead rabbit. Something was definitely weird about that old man that ate birds for breakfasts. Ewe! Were the goblins real or fake? Oh, they were real alright! Readers will have a good time seeing how real these goblins are. A fun read!

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: DARK HARBOR by Emma Mason

 

Can a woman haunted by the old Memphis Demon serial killer have a 2^nd chance to capture him? She goes to Liars Island at the request of an old friend to see if she can get any “psychic vibes.”

 

I honestly thought that this would be more of a “cat and mouse” hunt for a killer. Instead, this was more of a guilt trip. It wasn’t that great. I thought it would be better. Eh, not for me.

 

Rating: 2 stars