Day 24 of Fire and Ice rolls out with more terrific stops. We are nearing the end of this fantastic tour so be sure to get entering!
Kimba@ The Caffeinated Reviewer: Kate DeSeRine Better to See You
Melissa@Mochas, Mysteries and More: Linda Lael Miller Top Five Western Historical
Maja@The Nocturnal Library: Ann Aguirre: Bronze GodsRomances.
Thanks to all these wonderful bloggers for putting together such great posts and giveaways for all of you.
Today, I have a sweet and emotional read by Pamela Morsi called The Lovesick Cure.
It is a must read! Before I get to Pamela's guest post here is her bio:
Pamela Morsi is a USA Today, Waldenbooks, and Barnes & Noble bestselling author of romance. She broke into publishing in 1991 with Heaven Sent and has been gracing readers with at least a book a year ever since. Two of her novels, Courting Miss Hattie (1992) and Something Shady (1996), won the Romance Writers of America's RITA Award, the highest honor in romance publishing, and others have been RITA finalists.
Ms. Morsi pens heartwarming stories set in Small Town, USA. Her books are famous for their wit, humor, memorable characters, and down-home charm. Find Pam on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Goodreads.
Here is Pamela to tell you all how to cure a broken heart:
The Ordinary Cure for a Broken Heart
I am so excited to get to blog about my book, THE LOVESICK CURE. This contemporary novel takes place in the Arkansas Ozarks where our heroine, Jesse, retreats after being dumped by her fiancé. Her Aunt Will, actually her great-aunt, is the local “granny woman” now retired, whose career has been to treat local ailments with herbal cures and conjures. The old woman insists on treating Jesse’s broken heart with a very smelly, disgusting six-night poultice smear on her chest. She guarantees a complete lovesick cure.
Jesse, of course, runs into the local physician’s assistant, who happens to be a former lovesick cure patient and the two form a bond of recovery that involves some more traditional and sexy methods of healing for the lovelorn.
There are also some intriguing secondary storylines involving Aunt Will and her past. There’s also a pair of funny, angst-filled and hormonal teenagers.
This story was a pure pleasure for me. I invented this location, Marrying Stone, early in my writing career when I was doing historical romances. So the unique aspects of the setting were familiar and interesting to envision a hundred years later.
I see myself as a writer of ordinary people. My characters are rarely great heroes or villains, amazing achievers or the broken. I want my readers to connect with a story from their own life experience. I want the characters to be people they feel as if they already know. The middle school teacher. The physician’s assistant. The teenagers at the high school basketball game.
In this story, however, we have Aunt Will, who is a very unique person. I loved doing the research on Ozark folkways. Most of us, in this day of health food and dietary supplements, have a good appreciation of medicinal plants and traditional medicine. If somebody tells to try wormwort or tansy for something, we’re at least going to google it.
The aspect of folkways and conjures may be something we are less open to.
Questioning my mom about that, it was dissed as “superstition”. A lot of what Aunt Will does would fall into that category. But as I looked and read, I discovered that much of the strangeness had origins that were very practical. As one of the characters in the book points out, if you’re living in a remote, lawless place, you’re going to need some rules for civilization. Many of the folkways of our past would actually come under that definition. Practical responses to every day problems. Some of these are discussed in the story and I don’t want to be a spoiler of my own work. But it has got me looking for reasons why I should not “step on a crack”. I never thought it would actually “break your mother’s back”. Still, I guess if she were holding your hand and you took a bad stumble, it might not be that good.
Please check out my story. Or enter here and maybe win a copy.
Pam Morsi
Thanks so much Pam! I certainly enjoyed The Lovesick Cure. Of course, Pam has a giveaway. For U.S. residents you can enter to win a signed copy of The Lovesick Cure by Pamela Morsi. Just fill out the Rafflecopter to enter. Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveawayHere is my review:
The Lovesick Cure by Pamela Morsi
For Jesse Winsloe, the answer is clear: head into hiding. Single again and laid off from work, Jesse flees to Onery Cabin to lick her wounds with her ancient aunt Will—a Granny woman with the secret to healing the lovelorn.Sure, Onery Cabin may be right out of Hollywood's Lifestyles of the Poor and Hillbilly, but Marrying Stone Mountain has its charm—including the local physician's assistant, Piney Baxley, a past recipient of Aunt Will's pungent "heartbreak poultice."Between folk remedies and a "no strings attached" romance, Jesse is beginning to think she's found her own brand of lovesick cure—because there's nothing like a pinch of confidence and a dash of attraction to mend a broken heart.
Paperback, 416 pages
Published August 28th 2012 by Harlequin MIRA
Four stars: A cozy book that will make you laugh and cry!
Jess plasters a big fake smile on her face as she repeatedly reassures everyone she is so happy for her ex-fiancé and his new wife. The truth is deep inside she is not okay, she is heart sick. How could Greg after eight years abandon her and break their engagement? Jess needs to escape. She was recently laid off from her teaching job, by her ex-fiancé, and with no wedding and no job life is depressing. Quickly, Jess plans to visit her aging Aunt Will in the Ozarks. Some time away will do her good. Aunt Will has a sure fire cure for the lovesick. It is a smelly poultice that must be worn overnight for six days. The stink is unbearable, and worse, Aunt Will lives in a basic cabin with no bath or shower. Before Jess knows it, she is settling into life in the small Arkansas town, and she is slowly forgetting her heartbreak. Piney, the local Physician's Assistant, helps out as the two formulate their own cure for lovesickness. What Jess doesn't expect is for life to deal another heartbreaking blow. Can Jess find a way to cure her broken heart?
What I Liked:
- I am always a fan of sweet, simple stories set in small towns where everyone knows everyone and all their business. It makes for a nice cozy read. Ms. Morsi presents us with a secluded settlement in the Ozarks. It is a tight knit community that welcomes Jess with open arms. If you adore books with a small town feel, this is a fun one. Especially since it is a bit different than your normal small town as there is a bit of a rustic, hillybilly type feel, lots of sage advice and a bit of superstition. I could tell that plenty of research went into this book.
- At the heart of this sheltered settlement in the Ozarks is Aunt Will. She is an aging herbalist who is special and adored by all the townsfolk. I absolutely fell in love with Aunt Will. She is funny, intelligent, full of wisdom and just one of those type of people you want to spend an afternoon with drinking tea and learning her history. I would recommend reading this book just to meet Aunt Will as she is awesome! I truly admired her!
- I was expecting this book to have a sweet, charming romance that dominated the plot, but it doesn't. Now don't get me wrong, there is a romance but it is not the main focus. I was happy to discover that this book explored many different story lines and it had a lot to offer. The romance itself, though is fun and different. I liked how Piney and Jess cooked up their own cure for lovesickness and the frank discussions the two have regarding sex, especially after Piney catches Jess in a bit of a compromising position in his bathtub. I was a bit surprised by the candid sex talk the two had, and I loved it. I cannot go into details here as I would spoil it, but it is really funny.
- One of the side stories involves Piney's son, Tree, and his girlfriend, Camryn. the two are seniors in high school with their whole futures ahead. Tree's is bright as he hopes to play college basketball, while Cammi is struggling to find her future outside of the small town. Unfortunately for Cammi, she is feeling trapped and she is absolutely terrified of losing Tree. She endeavors to ensure her place in Tree's future but it ultimately back fires. I liked watching the two teens trying to find their way as they set out on the path to adulthood. I especially liked how maturely Tree handled himself, and laughed when he had to be the adult and confront his dad about the very thing he was always preaching to Tree about. He is wise beyond his years.
- This book has a bit of heart break as well. I was sad as the events unwound, and I dreaded coming to the part where I knew I would shed a tear, it is sad, but it is also a feel good story. I liked that this book was able to elicit a range of emotions. Be prepared to laugh and cry with this one.
- When I picked this up, I had no idea it was the third book in The Marrying Stone Series. I was relieved to find that this is a companion novel in that it takes place in the same small community but the main characters are different from the previous two installments. You can read this as a stand alone and not worry about not having read the other two books in the series.
And The Not So Much:
- The book opens after Jess' heartbreak. I never had a clear understanding of exactly what went down with her breakup. Her fiancé meets someone else and abruptly dumps Jess and marries the new girl, but there is very little detail on how the events played out. I felt a little loss as far as this goes, and I wanted to know a bit more about on the events that led up to the break up.
- I was curious about the other Jess in the community. Jess' nickname amongst the town folk is DuJess which translates as Jess Two. Aunt Will explains that she was given that name as there was a Jess before her, I never found out more about this and I was left scratching my head and wondering.
- At the end, there is a startling revelation regarding Aunt Will, and I felt that it was a bit glossed over. I wanted a bit more explanation and understanding on this angle. I would liked to know more about Jess's dad and his relationship with Aunt Will.
The Lovesick Cure is a nice cozy, contemporary read with genuine characters and small town charm. It is light on the steamy romance aspect and focuses more on real people dealing with normal every day problems which I liked. The star of the book is the sage Aunt Will. Pick this one up if you are looking for a sweet way to while away a winter afternoon.
Favorite Quotations:
"Trouble is what family is all about."
"It's a point of wisdom to know that life is always going to feel like an uphill grade, even when you're on the downhill slope."
"A woman needs to live a single life before she can appreciate a married one. It is no sacrifice to give up freedom you never had."
"Did the girl go after him? That's what I would have done. And when I found him, I'd slap his face and tell him, You don't break up with me, I break up with you!"
"The point of the story is that only the very foolish try to control other people. It's hard enough, with your hands free, to dodge what life throws at you. It's impossible if you're tending to a puppet on a string."
"It's funny the distinction from being 'stuck' in a place and choosing to call it home. It's exactly the same location. The difference is inside yourself."
"I'm an ordinary ham and eggs woman, making my way through life as best as I can."
"I was told that building a lasting foundation for a relationship is like the development of sedimentary rock. Slowly, slowly, layer by layer, in time and under pressure."
I borrowed a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
