Holding On Loosely by Dana Knox Wright is one of those books that can hit you just right when you are ready for it. It was a lovely read that took me through a roller coaster of emotions along with the author. There were definitely parts that made me chuckle and others that made me tear up. I was able to truly appreciate what it means to let go of something as I read this book. 

Perhaps this book hit differently because I lost my sister earlier this year. Ever since it happened, I notice that I see things very differently. I found that this book was able to match me in the emotion department. Although I am not a big reader of anything referencing God, I was able to appreciate the reader's point of view. 

It's hard for me to say what I would have gotten from this book if I was not in the place in my life that I am in now. I believe anyone can gather something from learning to let go. We all have things and people we need to (or should) let go of. I believe that this author is able to express that to her reader in the best way possible - by her expressive and captivating writing. 
​

CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY, 
or visit the blogs directly:
 
10/12/21
Excerpt
Chapter Break Book Blog

10/12/21
BONUS Promo
LSBBT Blog

10/13/21
Review
Book Fidelity

10/13/21
Scrapbook Page
Hall Ways Blog

10/14/21
Review
It's Not All Gravy

10/15/21
Guest Post
StoreyBook Reviews

10/15/21
Review
Jennie Reads

10/16/21
Author Interview
All the Ups and Downs

10/17/21
Excerpt
Reading by Moonlight

10/18/21
Review
The Clueless Gent

10/18/21
Top 8 Quotes
Julia Picks 1

10/19/21
Author Interview
The Adventures of a Travelers Wife

10/20/21
Audio Review?
Forgotten Winds

10/20/21
Guest Post
Sybrina's Book Blog

10/21/21
Review
Book Bustle

10/21/21
Review
Missus Gonzo
​

It's amazing how much history a graveyard can hold for the living to see if only we take the time to look! That is the message I received from Cynthia Leal Massey's What Lies Beneath: Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards. Through substantial research, Massey is able to provide to us snippets of history in a detailed and very organized way. Any aficionado of cemeteries (yes, I do believe there is such a thing) would do themselves the favor of picking up What Lies Beneath. With its organizational guide of graveyards, cemeteries, forts, etc., Massey gives an extensive and quite informational layout of what to see and what to expect. Each place brimming with history to inspect. 

What Lies Beneath is a great read for anyone interested in combining their love of history, Texas, and the slightly spooky. The stories within these pages are interesting and easy to read through - there was no putting this book down! I also plan on keeping it handy for the next time I travel through our state. I think you should too!

​CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY, 
or visit the blogs directly:
10/5/21
Excerpt
StoreyBook Reviews

10/5/21
BONUS Sneak Peek
Hall Ways Blog

10/6/21
Guest Post
The Clueless Gent

10/6/21
BONUS Promo
LSBBT Blog

10/7/21
Review
Jennie Reads

10/8/21
Review
That's What She's Reading

10/9/21
Scrapbook Page
Chapter Break Book Blog

10/10/21
Author Interview
All the Ups and Downs

10/11/21
Review
The Plain-Spoken Pen

10/12/21
BONUS Review
Book Fidelity

10/12/21
Excerpt
Sybrina's Book Blog

10/13/21
Review
Forgotten Winds

10/14/21
Review
The Book's Delight

 

​Finding Feral
A Spacious Reclaiming of Life
By Andrea Pardue
Genre: Memoir
 
Finding Feral will be released on August 20, 2021!
 
Book Description
 
After the death of my mother, I started to take stock of my life.  I was in midlife and it had been a hard, traumatic road.  This is my story of finding hope and myself in the tiny green of a sprout, the soaring austere of an eagle, color dripping from a paintbrush, and the possibility of a loving Creator.  This is a journey into my willfulness to embrace life at its essence and feel very much on purpose in this world.
 
"I love the emotion you have when you speak.  You have such a melodious way of communicating.  It is flowing, calming, and infused with warmth." - Amber Murphy
 
"I love feeling the desire you have to live in immense ways.  You inspire me." - Julianna Ehlert

Some books find you when you need them - even when you made the choice to pick it up. That's how I felt when reading Finding Feral by Andrea Pardue. 

I had lost my sister, and this book hit a very deep spot in my heart when I read about Pardue's experience in losing her mother. We had two very different experiences, but the pain and the loss - well, some things can be universal at their core. 

Pardue's writing was easy to absorb while also being emotive and heart-wrenching. Finding Feral was effortless in pulling me in and kept the pages turning until the last one. Pardue explains her life circumstances while also giving us a look into her feelings surrounding losing her mom and then the state of her life after. If there is one thing I learned about losing someone is that you can distinctly feel and separate the experiences - there is the before the loss and after the loss. Pardue's writing made me feel less alone because her writing was able express some of what I was feeling. And how very loss one can feel when in grief. 

Regardless whether or not someone is going through grief, Pardue's story is set to let the reader in on her life experiences while maintaining the reader's attention through her intricate and emotional writing. 

About the Author
 
Andrea Pardue is a simple soul who has meekly braved each step of her life’s joys and hardships. She discovered the expressive arts as therapy in her darkest moment, studied her guts and soul out to find her way to a liberating, feral freedom to participate in life again. This is her first book.  She lives with her husband and three boys in Texas. A piece of her heart remains on Whidbey Island.  She leads small groups in expressive arts and loves to hear the soul stories of others. You can contact her at andreapardue44@gmail.com.
 
Follow the author for updates on her upcoming release:
 
Website: https://www.strongwhisperer.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finding_feral
​

Review

Charm Wars by Dan Lutts is a young adult fantasy book about political intrigue and two young protagonists stuck on two very different sides of a coin. Rill and Alyse each have their roles in life: one is a commoner who hopes for more in life and the other is a noble who wants the simple life. 

Charm Wars is.a good start up to what is setting out to be an intriguing fantasy series. I find that first books in series are perceived to be long and heavy on the information. This definitely isn’t wrong, but it is so for a good reason. In order to create a detailed and worthwhile story, it is necessary for the first book to set this up for the reader. This is what Lutts has given us in Charm Wars, a story that is rich with an intricate magic system and two main characters that grow to know and enjoy. 

One thing is for sure, Lutts knows how to write an intriguing book and I for one am looking forward to the next book!

 
 
About the Author
Dan Lutts, the author of Charm Wars, was brought up in Quincy, Massachusetts, and began addictively reading Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman comic books at an early age, much to his mother's distress. In junior high school, he switched to reading science fiction novels. While in high school and college, he wrote science fiction short stories.
 
Dan taught history and archaeology in high school for ten years. After being laid off because of budget cuts, he used his love of writing to retrain and became a software technical editor and writer. He worked for several computer companies, taught technical writing at the college level, and worked as a freelance writer. Now, combining his love of history and writing, he works at a World War II museum doing research and writing.
 
Dan loves to read and has varied tastes, including Young Adult, historical fiction, mysteries, 18th-century sea epics, and history. He especially enjoys Young Adult fiction and decided to try his hand at it. Charm Wars, Dan’s first novel, is the result.
 
Dan lives in rural Maine with his wife, Lisa. When he’s not working or writing, Dan can be found reading, making and shooting medieval arrows with his longbow, or playing with his two dogs and two cats—all rescue animals.
 
Book Links
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/GoodreadsCharmWars
Amazon: https://bit.ly/CharmWarsKindle
https://twitter.com/DanLuttsAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/DanLuttsAuthor
 ​

Excerpt from Charm Wars

Chapter 1
​
Cougar’s Lair
“If a charm seeker did open this tomb, why did she take the charm from that one Old Mage but not his staff? And why did she leave all the other charms and staffs behind? I wonder—” 
“How fortunate for me she did,” a voice said behind them. “And how unfortunate for you.” 
Rill and Jedd whirled around. 

Just inside the entrance stood a skinny, middle-aged man of medium height. His gray tunic and tan pants were dirty and patched and his boots old and scuffed. Oily, unkempt hair framed his pockmarked face. In his right hand, he held a staff. The light from Rill's and Jedd’s torches danced shadows across his face, making his malevolent grin appear even more evil. 

A blacksmith’s vise clamped Rill’s chest making it hard for him to breathe. A rohan! A backwatcher or protector—either a mage or a bladeswoman or bladesman—who had been expelled by a noblesse matriarch for breaking her oath to serve and protect the matriarch’s family. An outcast from society no other noblesse First or Lesser Family would touch. A woman or man who was lower even than the criminals, dagger women, and prostitutes living in Caldon’s most dangerous neighborhood, The Slums. 

Rill’s gaze fastened on the rohan’s left hand that clutched something beneath his grimy tunic. 

A charm. 

“Actus,” the rohan mage said, his sinister smile showing he’d deliberately spoken the word loud enough for Rill and Jedd to hear. 

Rill eyed the staff, his stomach paining him. The rohan had activated his charm. All he had to do now was point the staff at a target and cast a spell. Rill’s gaze slid to Jedd, who appeared as rigid as a marble statue. 

With exaggerated slowness, the rohan aimed the staff at the gap between Rill and Jedd, then deliberately moved it from one to the other. His lips drew up into a cruel smile, making Rill feel like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. 

Rill choked on a lump of regret. Why didn’t I listen to Jedd and leave the coffins alone? We could of been partway home by now. I could of been a mage. But now I never will be.

Slowly and deliberately, the rohan inhaled a mouthful of air and said, “Luco!” 

Rill’s frightened breath blended with Jedd’s when the crystal burst into life, and white mage light flooded the tomb. 

The rohan laughed as if he’d just watched a first-rate comedy routine as he stepped several paces forward. “Scared of a little light, boys?” 

Rill’s gaze jumped to Jedd. His cousin was glowering at the man, his hands balled into fists. 
The rohan smirked at Jedd. 

Slowly, keeping his eyes on the rohan, Rill moved his hand toward his sword’s brown leather grip. 

The rohan must have had invisible eyes in the side of his head. With a chuckle, he casually pointed the staff at Rill. “Foolish boy. I can kill you before your sword’s half out of its scabbard.” 
Rill let his hand drop to his side. 

“Tsk-tsk,” the rohan said, drawing closer. “Naughty boys charm seeking. That’s a death offense. Unless you’re mages, of course. Are you mages, naughty boys?” 

“You know we ain’t,” Rill said through clenched teeth. 

The rohan stepped forward a few more paces until only a staff’s length separated them. “When I came across your well-fed and groomed horses a while ago, I thought that maybe their owners came from good families. Families with money. So I went looking for you. My goodness, you weren’t hard to find. Not with all that racket you made in here with the cougar. Boys with horses and swords. And purses hanging from their belts.” His gaze riveted itself to Rill. “And with such interesting things inside.” 

Rill’s heart froze into a lump of ice as he forced himself to return the rohan’s stare. He saw me take the charm.

The rohan flashed them both an evil smile. “So I said to myself, ‘Self, I bet those naughty little boys are carrying some nice shiny gildas in their purses. Or maybe even a goldie.’ You got any?” 
“Why don’t you come closer and find out?” Rill said. He’d tried to sound cocky, but his voice broke halfway through the question. 

The rohan grinned, obviously enjoying himself. He pointed the staff at Rill. “Naughty boy. I hope you don’t melt.” 

Terror ripped through Rill like a barbed arrowhead. 
​
He had only moments to live.