Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Blog Tour of Julia London's Summer of Two Wishes

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Review of Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London

Synopsis:

When she heard that her husband Finn was killed in the line of duty overseas, Mary Lockhart felt like she'd died. Mary struggled to keep his Texas Ranch, but with cattle disease, her inexperience, and bad luck, she had to sell much of Finn's assets. Three years later, she'd picked herself up and created a new life. Mary still loved and missed Finn deeply, but she found stability and happiness with her new husband Wyatt Clark.

Stability and happiness that shatter when Mary receives news that Finn is alive - and coming home. Mary is ecstatic that Finn is alive and can't wait to see him. But under Texas law, she must choose which marriage to keep and which to nullify. Faced with an impossible choice, what does Mary do?

Review:

Macy's in an impossible situation. If you thought that the man that you loved more than anything in the world somehow was gone and you suddenly had a second chance, would you go back to him even if it means hurting the man who helped you find yourself again?

Julia London is careful to fully flesh out each of the three characters so that you can sympathize with each of them. She creates subplots that move the story along to its satisfying conclusion. The book raises issues of loyalty and being true to oneself as well as the unique strain that military families are under. The description of the difficulties that military families face both during deployment and when obtaining their benefits gave the book an additional dimension. Despite the difficult decision that Macy faces, I found the book is an enjoyable and satisfying read.

Publisher: Pocket Star (August 18, 2009), 432 pages.
Courtesy of the publisher.

The author's "unofficial bio" from her website (much more interesting than the usual press release):

Okay, here is the real scoop on Julia London: the official bio looks nothing like who I think is the real me. The unofficial truth is that I was born and raised in rural west Texas. I was a fat baby and typical little girl with Barbies, bikes, and an overactive imagination. I know that I loved to make up stories from a time I can scarcely remember (because my mom has a story I wrote in the first grade, which featured me in an episode of Wagon Train), and I know that Ialways loved books.

I remember going to the library. It was in an old house and it was very cool inside and smelled like old books and all the children’s books were on lower shelves for easy access by little hands. I read all the usual stuff: Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women… Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (by then I was fifteen or sixteen and was afraid to ask).

In my early teens, I began to dream of great adventure and hunky guys and filled notebooks with stories of a girl who looked and talked like me and was constantly caught up in adventure and peril. She always landed in the arms of hunky guys who happened to resemble a few of my favorite TV stars. Hey, I’m not ashamed to admit it: Starsky and Hutch, Alias Smith and Jones, and yes, even Keith Partridge.

I went to college, I got a job, and when I got a little older, I began to live the real adventures of my life. I t raveled to far-flung places and tried things I never thought I’d try. I had good jobs with the federal government and eventually ended up working in the White House, and then later, I came back to Tex as and worked as a public administrator until I could take politics no more.

That’s when I decided to turn my penchant for making up stories into books, and I’ll be damned if an agent and a publisher didn’t want to publish my daydreams. I have been a lucky, lucky girl.

I look back at my life and mark the passage of time by standard measures: bad hair and bad style sense. Or, I can pinpoint where I was and what I was doing in my life by the sports I tried. Not all of them took, but I discovered I was best at tennis (back in the day), golf (except when it’s too hot, and its always too hot in Texas) and wogging (sort of a half-walk, half-jog. Extremely ugly in appearance, but gets the job done), which I do only moderately well.

Along the way I fell in love with a few good dogs and a few good men, and found the ones I want to keep forever.

 Sure, there have been those few occasions I might have drank too much and did some things I wish I hadn’t, but overall, I have no regrets. I’ve never wanted for anything except the perfect purse (the search continues). I have been a lucky, lucky girl.

The unofficial truth is that I’ve had two successful careers. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful family and I’ve been lucky in love and work and play. I love my life, I love what I do. I love the people and animals that surround me and I am eager to see what the next half of my life brings.

Now that is a bio that looks like me.


Read more on Julia London's website at http://www.julialondon.com/. Sign up for Julia London's contest at http://www.julialondon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=19&Itemid=53

Summer of Two Wishes Blog Tour

My Book Views: my-book-views.blogspot.com
Book Soulmates: http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/
A Journey of Books: http://ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/
Just Jennifer Reading: http://justjenniferreading.blogspot.com/
All About {n}: http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/
My Guilty Pleasures: http://www.mgpblog.com/
Bookin’ with Bingo: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/
Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/
Booksie’s Blog: http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/
The Tome Traveller: http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/
Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/
Cheryl’s Book Nook: http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/
Bella’s Novella: http://www.bellasnovella.com/
Frugal Plus: http://frugalplus.com/
Eclectic Book Lover: http://www.eclecticbooklover.com
One Person’s Journey Through A World Of Books: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/
Foreign Circus Library: http://www.foreigncircuslibrary.blogspot.com/
My Own Little Corner of the World: http://molcotw.blogspot.com/
Alpha Heroes: http://alphaheroes.blogspot.com/
Pudgy Penguin Perusals: http://kayespenguinposts.blogspot.com/
Seductive Musings: http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/
Bibliophiles ‘R Us: http://nightdweller20.wordpress.com/
Park Avenue Princess: http://aparkavenueprincess.blogspot.com/
Power in the Blog: http://jesharris.wordpress.com/
Books and Needlepoint: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much to Julia London, Sarah and Pocket Books for this wonderful opportunity!

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