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Monday, November 5, 2012

Healing Notes by Maggie Jamieson Blog Tour







Healing Notes
by Maggie Jaimeson
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BLURB:

Forgiving yourself is the first step, but helping others forgive may be just too hard.

Rachel Cullen grew up in Scotland with a fiddle in her hand from the age of four. She couldn't imagine life as anything but a musician. When her husband brought her to America she was immediately embraced by the Celtic and Bluegrass communities. But after her divorce, Rachel's life is a mess.

A year of trying to prove to herself that she's woman enough for any man, and then a vicious rape while on tour with the band, leaves Rachel reeling. When she meets Noel Kershaw, an English teacher who is poetry in motion, she is definitely attracted. But he has a young child and he's suffering from his own divorce. The last thing Rachel needs in life is more baggage.

First, Rachel must reconcile who she is, what she wants, and how to get there. Maybe then she'll know how to be a part of the family she's always wanted.

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Excerpt :

After she hung up, Rachel stared out at the river behind the house. She had goose bumps along her arms. She could listen to his voice for a long, long time. Why did this man intrigue her so much? Was it just because he didn’t seem interested? Yes, that must be it.  He was safe. He had a kid and he wasn’t interested.  That meant they wouldn’t get involved.

All conversation stopped as she entered the room and the women looked at her in anticipation. She had the urge to say nothing just to be difficult.

“Soooooo, who’s Noel?” Kat took the receiver from her. “I liked his voice. Sounded real sexy.”

Rachel took a deep breath and pasted a nonchalant smile on her face. “Remember the little girl at the last concert who wanted my autograph? Noel is her father.”

“I see.” Theresa drew out the word as an invitation for more.

“It’s not what you think. It turns out the little girl wants fiddle lessons. Since she saw us play, she’s gotten it in her mind that she wants to learn.  He had no idea who to call, so he thought he’d call the main number for the band to find me. He didn’t even think I gave lessons, just that I could make a recommendation.”

“Uh huh,” Michele said, a note of disbelief in her voice.

“But he is cute, right?” Kat insisted. “And you are interested, and something could be going on, right?”

“Wrong.”

“Ah, come on, Rachel.  How can you not be interested in that voice?”

“It’s just fiddle lessons for the little girl.  The girl is sweet. I’m happy to work with her. As for the father, nothing is going to happen. Believe me.”



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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Maggie Jaimeson writes romantic women’s fiction and romantic suspense with a near future twist. She describes herself as a wife, a step-mother, a sister, a daughter, a teacher and an IT administrator. By day she is “geek girl” – helping colleges to keep up with 21st century technology and provide distance learning options for students in rural areas. By night Maggie turns her thoughts to worlds she can control – worlds where bad guys get their comeuppance, women triumph over tragedy, and love can conquer all.

HEALING NOTES is the second book in the Sweetwater Canyon Series of four books.  The final two books will be available in 2013.

Website: http://maggiejaimeson.com
Blog: http://maggiemeandering.blogspot.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Jaimeson/118916694787820
Twitter: @maggiejaimeson



Review:

4 Stars


Rachel Cullen is slowly trying to rebuild her life again after a brutal rape left her in a tailspin.   As each new step has Rachel gaining back some control, Rachel finds herself facing tough choices.  Rachel had not planned on meeting Noel Kershaw, a single father who has his own share of issues he is trying to overcome.  Two fragile souls find themselves leaning on one another to help heal, but old wounds are ever present and could tear them apart.

I thought this was a potent story, you truly find yourself immersed in these characters lives.  It is not an easy healing process for both and with Noel’s little girl, Rachel finds herself even more cautious.  There are so many layers to this story from Rachel’s from her anger to her estrangement with her bandmates to entering into another journey that she doesn’t have a certainty how it will turn out and it is a rocky start to a her newest path in life.

Contest:

Maggie will award one autographed cover flat to a randomly drawn commenter at each blog stop.  In addition, she will award  a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner's choice) as a grand prize to one randomly selected commenter on this tour, and a $25 gift certificate to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn host.  You must leave an email address to be entered into any of the drawings.

12 comments:

  1. Thank you for the review and excerpt. Sounds like a great story.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  2. Thank you for your review. You truly captured Rachel's journey in your summary. I appreciate it very much. Hello Ingeborg. Nice to see you again on a blog.

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  3. Hi Maggie...I am a Library Director and I've just added DL into my "domain." I'd love to hear about your IT administrator work, specifically the DL stuff. It's all new to me and I feel like I have a big learning curve.

    PS...I enjoyed the excerpt.
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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    Replies
    1. Catherine, I'll send you an email privately and we can chat. Distance Learning is a big arena. The good news, however, is that there is a lot of help in terms of books, people probably at your institution, outside consultants, etc.

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  4. This looks like a fascinating book, having the hero be the one with the child is a twist. Carin
    mawmom at gmail dot com

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  5. Thank you for the review and excerpt. Sounds like a great story.

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  6. Sorry I missed the first day of the tour. Enjoyed reading the excerpt and review and I look forward to reading more about the author and her work.

    kareninnc at gmail dot com

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  7. Carin, Laurie, and Karen, thanks for stopping by. No worries about missing a day, you can always catch up by going backwards. Carin, I wanted to include a single Dad in my book for two reasons: 1) Single Dads with custody have become more common over the past two decades and I want people to notice them; and 2) It was the perfect situation to get Rachel to stop and take notice, to reach outside herself.

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  8. I like your use of the word 'potent' in your review. It tells me a great deal.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  9. Hi Mary, Thanks for stopping by. I liked the use of the word "potent" too. I'm feeling so grateful that people are liking the story even though the issues are difficult. It makes writing the book that much more worthwhile for me.

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  10. The drawing for the $25 Gift Card was done this weekend. The winner is Mary Preston, lucky commenter #18. She has been notified of her win.

    For the autographed cover flat giveaway, I've decided to give one to any one who commented and wishes to receive it. Because the cover flat must be snail mailed to you, you will need to send me an email to maggie@maggiejaimeson.com letting me know the following:

    1. Your mailing address.
    2. If you want the autographed flat endorsed to you. If so, what name should I use?

    I am willing to mail the cover flat to you, no matter where you live in the world. I appreciate all my readers. Thank you for taking the time to follow my review tour and for taking a look at Healing Notes.

    ReplyDelete