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Cheryl F. {The Lucky Ladybug} said… 16  Facebook friend

An email has been sent to the winners and they have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address or another winner will be chosen.

I enjoy being a host for Guest Authors, getting to know a little bit about them and their book. And today that is exactly what I am doing.  It is even more special when an author contacts me and asks if I would read and review their book. Today I get to do just that and introduce you to Ms. Sara Robinson. Please help me give her a warm welcome.

   I live in Charlottesville, VA and have been here since 1997. I was born on the campus of UVA and grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, in the town of Elkton. In 2009, I retired from full-time active corporate life as a Business Development Manager for a minerals mining and chemical manufacturing firm. For most of my career I was in the chemical and/or minerals mining and processing industries. During that time, I published prolifically in technical journals, trade journals, reference books and conference proceedings. Now I am in touch with the right/write side of my brain. The memoir was my first attempt at creative writing, and I hope that will serve as a springboard for my next writing projects, which are in progress. I am working on a collection of short stories and a novel. The novel, as I intend it, will be the first of a five book series of murder mysteries that take place in a fictional town in the Shenandoah Valley.

   I am a member of the Blue Ridge Writers Club, The Virginia Writers Club, and the National League of American Pen Women. I do my research at the Elkton Welcome Center which houses a large collection of Hobby Robinson photographs, memorabilia, and his books.

Now for a synopsis of the memoir, Love Always, Hobby and Jessie. Have you ever had a feeling that a couple’s future is successful or doomed just by witnessing a brief exchange between them? I think a lot of people are fooled by what they witness in watching couples. Hobby and Jessie in the early years of their marriage were not doomed if what is seen on the outside or on the edges is witness. Their story unfolds from their beginning courtship, through the early years of their marriage, until they died. The heavy focus of the book is on the early years and as their marriage marks time, their conflicts and resolutions are told in the book’s chapters. Some of their conflicts were felt by their daughter who tells the stories as she recalls them. It is a book that will make you laugh, break your heart, and perhaps give you the gift of understanding how at least one couple found a way to keep a love always.

Watch the trailer……

My review will be posted within the next couple of weeks!!

Sara Robinson not only asked if I would read and review her book Love Always, Hobby and Jessie, but has generously offered 2 personally signed copies for my friends so that they also have the chance to read her book.

I enjoy being a host for Guest Authors, getting to know a little bit about them and their book. And today that is exactly what I am doing.  It is even more special when an author contacts me and asks if I would read and review their book. Today I get to do just that and introduce you to Ms. Sara Robinson. Please help me give her a warm welcome.

   I live in Charlottesville, VA and have been here since 1997. I was born on the campus of UVA and grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, in the town of Elkton. In 2009, I retired from full-time active corporate life as a Business Development Manager for a minerals mining and chemical manufacturing firm. For most of my career I was in the chemical and/or minerals mining and processing industries. During that time, I published prolifically in technical journals, trade journals, reference books and conference proceedings. Now I am in touch with the right/write side of my brain. The memoir was my first attempt at creative writing, and I hope that will serve as a springboard for my next writing projects, which are in progress. I am working on a collection of short stories and a novel. The novel, as I intend it, will be the first of a five book series of murder mysteries that take place in a fictional town in the Shenandoah Valley.

   I am a member of the Blue Ridge Writers Club, The Virginia Writers Club, and the National League of American Pen Women. I do my research at the Elkton Welcome Center which houses a large collection of Hobby Robinson photographs, memorabilia, and his books.

Now for a synopsis of the memoir, Love Always, Hobby and Jessie. Have you ever had a feeling that a couple’s future is successful or doomed just by witnessing a brief exchange between them? I think a lot of people are fooled by what they witness in watching couples. Hobby and Jessie in the early years of their marriage were not doomed if what is seen on the outside or on the edges is witness. Their story unfolds from their beginning courtship, through the early years of their marriage, until they died. The heavy focus of the book is on the early years and as their marriage marks time, their conflicts and resolutions are told in the book’s chapters. Some of their conflicts were felt by their daughter who tells the stories as she recalls them. It is a book that will make you laugh, break your heart, and perhaps give you the gift of understanding how at least one couple found a way to keep a love always.

Watch the trailer……

My review will be posted within the next couple of weeks!!

Sara Robinson not only asked if I would read and review her book Love Always, Hobby and Jessie, but has generously offered 2 personally signed copies for my friends so that they also have the chance to read her book.

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomon
Published by Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-07758-3
At the request of Reagan Arthur/Hachette Books a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (borrowed from book’s jacket): At the outset of World War II, Jack Rosenblum, his wife, Sadie, and their baby daughter escape Berlin, bound for London. They are greeted with a pamphlet instructing immigrants how to act like “the English.” Jack acquires Savile Row suits and a Jaguar. He buys his marmalade from Fortnum & Mason and learns to list the entire British monarchy back to 978 AD. He never speaks German, apart for the occasional curse. But the one key item that would make him feel fully British-membership in a golf club-remains elusive. In postwar England, no golf club will admit a Rosenblum. Jack hatches a wild idea, he”ll build his own.
  It’s an obsession Sadie does not share, particularly when Jack relocates them to a thatch-roofed cottage in Dorset to embark on his project. She doesn’t want to forget who they are or where they came from. She wants to bake the cakes she used to serve to friends in the old country and reminisce. Now she’s stuck in an inhospitable landscape filled with unwelcoming people, watching their bank account shrink as Jack pursues his quixotic dream.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: I have to be honest that I was quite skeptical in reading this book because I received it with no prior knowledge and add to that, that this was a debut novel. It is not the type of book that I would routinely read, but was pleasantly surprised once I picked it up. Ms. Solomons writing style was written, with such detailed descriptions and with the flow of the story line, as if it was by a seasoned author. The characters relatable. I found that there were a gamut of emotions felt for both Mr. Rosenblum and his wife, Sadie due to the descriptive and poignant words that the author was able to convey to this reader. I did enjoy this book but, and this is my opinion and my opinion only, it was not a fast paced, page turning read. I didn’t find myself “needing” to pick it up. (Possible Spoiler Alert)……I was surprised to see that the premise of this story was taken from her “grandparent’s experience” and wonder if I had known that it was based on reality that I would have had a different reading experience.