Posts Categorized: The Author Reads – Book Reviews

The Author Reads – Book Review of ‘Stormy,’ The Weather Girls Series, Book Two, by Jennifer Lynn Cary

Posted October 30, 2021 | Christy Hoss

This post includes:

  1. About the book
  2. My review
  3. About the author
  4. More from Jennifer Lynn
  5. Blog Stops
  6. Giveaway

Book: The Weather Girls: Stormy

Author: Jennifer Lynn Cary

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: October 4, 2021

She doesn’t want to talk about it…

…He has no idea what he said.

Will these two ever learn to communicate?

Stormy is usually a people person but when her temper flares, it’s obvious she was aptly named. And now her ire has been piqued. Watch out world.

All but the cardinal are giving her space.

Rob is usually the smartest guy in the room, but when he forgot to think about his words, he turned loose a tornado. Now he’s dealing with the aftermath and praying there’s still enough love to save amidst the debris.

How can he convince Stormy they belong together? Could this be the perfect moment for another person to step in?

Or will the cardinal in the sycamore tree prove Rob’s case?

Return to 1970 Indiana with Stormy, the second book in The Weather Girls series for Women’s Lib, drive-ins, and Christian family values.

You will enjoy Stormy because everyone knows that sometimes you’ve just got to shake things up a bit.

My Thoughts…

Stormy picks up where the first book in The Weather Girls series left off. However, if you were to read them out of sequence, you won’t miss a thing. The author does a great job of keeping the reader up-to-date on prior events.

Main character, Stormy, rides an emotional roller coaster through the entire book, having been separated from her husband for several months. Add to the mix an out-of-control former co-worker relentlessly chasing Stormy’s husband.

Stormy doesn’t always make the right choices, truly living up to her name.

Despite setbacks in their blossoming wedding event business, the Weather Girls prevail through every kind of hardship due to their faith and a wonderful Gramma. Surprises abound throughout this tale, making for another page-tuner by Jennifer Lynn Cary.

I enjoyed reading this tale of the second sister and look forward to reading the third book in the series about the third sister, Windy.

I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About the Author

Jennifer Lynn Cary likes to say you can take the girl out of Indiana, but you can’t take the Hoosier out of the girl. Now transplanted to the Arizona desert, this direct descendant of Davy Crockett and her husband of forty years enjoy time with family where she shares tales of her small town heritage and family legacies with their grandchildren.

She is the author of The Crockett Chronicles series and The Relentless series as well as the stand-alone novella Tales of the Hob Nob Annex Café and her recent split-time novel The Traveling Prayer Shawl.

More from Jennifer Lynn

What were you doing in 1970? Were you even around? It’s funny how for some that year is crystal clear in their memory and for some it’s chapter out of a history book.

I remember having lunch with a literary agent who’d been a guest speaker for a writer’s conference I attended. He mentioned that it was strange to him that now 1974 was considered historical. Worse, for me, it was the year I was graduated from high school! Talk about making one feel old.

And yet there’s so many wonderful things about setting a story in the late 60s- to early 70s.

The research is amazing—TV broadcasts, the music, fashions, events—all that is easily assessable on the internet. Plus, want some firsthand anecdotes? Plenty of people around to share their memories.

Unlike going back to Colonial, or Victorian, or Civil War eras, this was easy. Sort of. Or overwhelming with so much to choose from. Ha!

So, with Stormy, the second book in The Weather Girls trilogy, I touched on how the Women’s Movement of the day might have and an effect. There was a lot of rethinking of the male and female roles, a shifting of the paradigm. Should he open her door? Should she let him? When was it okay to think traditionally and when did you need to consider your partner might not like a traditional role? The ERA movement was a BIG deal back then.

So, even if you don’t remember it, I hope you will have fun going back to 1970 Kokomo with Stormy and me. I look forward to seeing you there. 😉

Abundant blessings!

Blog Stops for The Weather Girls: Stormy

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 29

Blogging With Carol, October 29

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 30

The Author Reads (Christy Hoss’s blog), October 30

Pause for Tales, October 31

Vicky Sluiter, November 1

Connect in Fiction, November 2

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 3

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, November 3

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 4

Texas Book-aholic, November 5

Inklings and Notions, November 6

Connie’s History Classroom, November 7

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, November 7

Deb’s Book Review, November 8

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 9

The Meanderings of a Bookworm, November 9

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, November 10

Batya’s Bits, November 11

For Him and My Family, November 11

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon card with a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway!

Click here to enter.

 

The Author Reads – Book Review of ‘Sunny,’ The Weather Girls Series, Book One, by Jennifer Lynn Cary

Posted October 10, 2021 | Christy Hoss

This post includes:

  1. About the book
  2. My review
  3. About the author
  4. More from Jennifer Lynn
  5. Blog Stops
  6. Giveaway

About the Book

Book: The Weather Girls: Sunny

Author: Jennifer Lynn Cary

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: September 6, 2021

She got stood up on Valentine’s Day…

…Then she lost her job

Could the legend of the cardinal change her luck?

With a disposition as bright as her name, Sunny shakes it off the worst day of her life and makes a new start. She’s got the brains that it takes, but she’s more than a little scared. It’s not just her reputation on the line.

Would this cockeyed adventure be the thing her siblings need too?

Pat only wants peace in the family and never dreamed doing a favor for his sister could drop him into so much hot water. Torn between what he’s always wanted and what is staring him in the face, someone is bound to get hurt.

Odds are it will be him.

But then, only the cardinal knows for sure.

Return to 1970 Indiana with Sunny, the first book in The Weather Girls series—get into the miniskirts, bell-bottoms, and Christian family values.

You’ll love Sunny for the music, the fashions, and the hilarious antics, because who can resist a romantic trip down memory lane?

Click here to get your copy!

In My Opinion…

I chose this book as if I was in a bookstore, only I did it virtually.

First, I picked it for its whimsical cover that drew me in.

Second, I chose it because of the back cover copy.

Third, I read the first chapter and I was hooked.

Personally, I don’t like surprises and the main character, Sunny, gets smacked in the face almost immediately with a life-altering one. If I could crawl inside the pages of this story and hug her, I wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

This story is set in a decade I grew up in, so I became very nostalgic reading the details and loving every trip down memory lane. Jennifer Lynn Cary does an excellent job of landing us in the early 70s and makes her characters likeable and dislikeable.

As the story progresses, I fell in love with Gramma and how she takes care of the three siblings, Sunny, Stormy and Windy, all in a season of unexpected change.

The girls bond together and prove the power of family and the power of love as they create the perfect destination wedding platform in an old Victorian home, despite their personal challenges. I’m so emotionally invested in these girls that I can’t wait for the next book.

I received a copy of this book for free via ebook for the Celebratelit.com book tour.

About the Author

Jennifer Lynn Cary likes to say you can take the girl out of Indiana, but you can’t take the Hoosier out of the girl. Now transplanted to the Arizona desert, this direct descendant of Davy Crockett and her husband of forty years enjoy time with family where she shares tales of her small town heritage and family legacies with their grandchildren.

She is the author of The Crockett Chronicles series and The Relentless series as well as the stand-alone novella Tales of the Hob Nob Annex Café and her recent split-time novel The Traveling Prayer Shawl.

More from Jennifer Lynn

I was born in the 50s, grew up in the 60s and 70s, and married in 1980. I relate to K.T. Oslin’s song “80’s Ladies” a little too well. 😉

Though we moved from Kokomo, Indiana in 1972, it always will be my hometown.

A few years ago my sister headed up a plan to have an annual Cousin’s Reunion in Kokomo. Two cousins came from Ohio and my sister and I came from the west to converge on our family who still call Kokomo home. Each trip back reminded me of how much I loved growing up there.

One day Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny” came on the Oldies station and caught my attention. Then I remembered the songs “Stormy” and “Windy” and wondered what it might be like for girls with that sort of name—especially if their surname was Day. Would their dispositions match their names? Why would their parents give them those names? The questions kept coming and I fell in love with the whole storyline.

The best part was putting the house I grew up in into the book(s). Yep, as you read the story, Hazel Day’s house is set up mostly like the one where I grew up only I added a den and an extra bedroom upstairs.

Ferguson House is based on the Seiberling Mansion—I love that place and tour it every chance I can when I get back to Kokomo. It’s amazing.

I also included favorite landmarks. Scotty’s Drive-In saw a lot of me in my early teen years. Great for grabbing a coke and not that far from either school or home.

The funny thing about memories is that they can blur and morph over time. Thankfully someone from my hometown has put together a Facebook page where I can ask questions and get more than enough answers.

Many locales I remember no longer exist, so writing about them helps them live on.

I hope you will check out Sunny and 1970 Kokomo and come back for the rest of The Weather Girls trilogy.

Abundant blessings!

Blog Stops

October 6

October 7

October 8

October 9

October 10

October 11

October 12

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 17

October 18

October 19

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon card with signed copy of the book!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click this link to enter.

The Author Reads – Mrs. Oswald Chambers (The Woman Behind the World’s Best-Selling Devotional)

Posted September 27, 2021 | Christy Hoss
Mrs. Oswald Chambers

Mrs. Oswald ChambersWelcome to the first installment of The Author Reads, Book Reviews.

One of my newest and most fun jobs is to review books.

For my first choice I am featuring the non-fiction book, Mrs. Oswald Chambers, by Michelle Ule.

Mrs. Oswald Chambers is about the wife of Oswald Chambers, the author of one of the most famous Christian devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest.

My Utmost for His HighestIt was published ten years after his death, compiled by notes his wife had taken from all his years of ministering and teaching the Bible.

I must confess, I only read biographies about people I am interested in and most of them are bogged down with too many details of the person’s life. Bestselling novelist, Michelle Ule, does an excellent job of telling the story of Biddy Chambers without boring her reader to death with wordy, unimportant details.

From her upbringing in Victorian England to her experiences in a WWI YMCA camp in Egypt,

I was captivated by young Biddy’s strength as she returns to post-war Britain a destitute widow with a toddler in tow.

Refusing personal payment, Biddy published not only My Utmost for His Highest, but also 29 other books, all with her husband’s name on the covers. As a single mother, she was ahead of her time by overcoming incredible odds, all while staying humble and true to her founding faith.

Since I started to read it, I could not put it down. If I had stars to give, it would receive five out of five stars for excellence in writing and historically accurate and captivating biography.

You could win an autographed copy of Mrs. Oswald Chambers

Michelle is giving away a signed copy of Mrs. Oswald Chambers. To enter, click here to email me. I’ll announce the winner in my October newsletter. To subscribe to my newsletter, scroll to the bottom of this page, where you’ll see a headline that says, “Free Stuff.” Be sure to tick the “Newsletter” box!