Tag: romance

A Special Book Feature: Faith in Abertillery

Featured Ariel Paiement

Hey, guys! I’ve got something different for you today as part of the final day of the blog tour. Please don’t shoot me for changing up the routine! Just kidding. I know you guys won’t.

All joking aside, I know I normally only review fantasy, but this is an exception for the blog tour! It’s not fantasy. Instead, Faith of Abertillery is a historical romance set during the Welsh Revival. Good stuff, in my opinion. Can’t get much better than clean historical romance with a Christian emphasis, at least for me.

When TN Traynor and I were talking about what we could do for the last day of the blog tour where I’d be on her blog, she suggested we could do book highlights. That’s something you usually don’t see in blog tours, but hey, it’s different and different can be a good thing. She mentioned that the book was shorter, which was perfect since both of us were on tight schedules to finish reading the new book before today.

I knew the book wasn’t what I usually review on here before I told her what I could do in terms of posting the spotlight, but because I’d already read Idi & The Oracle’s Quest by her, I had high hopes that this new story would be equally good in terms of characterization and storyline. I certainly wasn’t disappointed, and hopefully some of you won’t be disappointed that I’m posting something that’s not fantasy. 😉

I can honestly say that between this book and Idi & the Oracle’s Quest, I much preferred this one. Usually, I like fantasy and romance about the same but favor fantasy romance more over regular romances. But in this case, I found that the author much improved her writing and her style from the first book she released (Idi & the Oracle’s Quest) to Faith in Abertillery.

Boy, am I ever glad I agreed to read this for the highlight! I loved the book. The only two things that kept it from earning five stars from me were the use of present tense throughout the whole book and the translations of every Welsh word used inline. The first is just personal preference. The second kind of pulled me out of the book to interpret and read the interpretations of the Welsh. Some of them might have needed a glossary, but others could have done without any entries or explanations because context made them clear. So I didn’t like that so much, but the book was on the whole quite enjoyable to read! If you like historical Christian romance, you should definitely give the book a whirl. I very much doubt you’ll regret it! I certainly didn’t. You can find more information here, and I put the blurb below.

You can find TN Traynor online here.

Blurb:

With ‘An Officer & A Gentleman’ feel, and a Christmas Day ending, this is a perfect festive season, feel-good book. She’s given up on love. He’s marrying for money. But God has other plans…

South Wales, 1905. Faith only believes in the certainty of pain and suffering. Born with a club foot and harboring a dark secret, the barmaid can’t escape her sinful past. But after the country’s religious revival puts her out of a job, hope sparks when a handsome aristocrat gallantly offers her a second chance.

Lord Geoffrey Driscoll fears his estate will run out of money before he can find a suitable bride. However, the devout nobleman can’t keep his mind off the stunning redhead despite her lowly status. As the attraction between them grows, Lord Driscoll is torn between his need for a wife of means and his heart.

As Faith falls for Lord Driscoll’s kindness, she wishes that she could erase the sinful past that stands in the way of their union…

Can the troubled couple trust in God to light the way to true love?

Faith in Abertillery is a touching Christian historical romance. If you like stories of forgiveness, rich backdrops, and charming chemistry, then you’ll adore Tracy Traynor’s moving tale.

Buy Faith in Abertillery to watch young love follow a higher power today!

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #35

Featured Ariel Paiement

This week’s work-in-progress is a small bit from a short dystopian romance story I started. Enjoy!

~~~

Something snapped in the distance, and she lifted a finger to her lips. The sweep was happening. They’d have to be absolutely still and silent if they didn’t want to be caught. Luckily, her companion stayed quiet and didn’t move. A light flashed overhead, and the crackle of the energy field washed over her skin. When neither of them moved, the beam continued on its way in moments, and she sagged back against the wall in relief.

“What was that?”

“The reason they don’t need guards for the exterior of this building. As for your other question, that’s something I’d rather answer well away from this place. If my father catches me here again, he’s likely to sell me off to the whore houses directly or to enslave me to one of his own masters.” She grabbed the stranger’s wrist and ignored the strange wash of warmth that cascaded through her at the contact. 

He didn’t protest, and she dragged him out of the bushes, darting toward the fence. “Hurry. There’s not much time before the next sweep. They always come in pairs.”

The man picked up the pace. To the left, she could hear the hum and snap that foretold the approach of the field. She bolted for the hole just behind her new acquaintance, and together they scrambled underneath it. On the other side, they lay on the ground side-by-side, and Eltara stared up at the stars while she regained her breath.

“Alright, explain. What’s with the weird beam, why was it so easy to get past the fence, and why would your own father ever sell you into slavery?”

Well, he just had to ask all the hard questions, didn’t he? “The beam of light is an invention they created about ten years ago to eliminate the need for guards outside this complex. Too inefficient to patrol, I guess. It will send out an alarm signal to my father, the head of the Mors Animi, and to all the guards inside the building, if it finds any trace of human movement. The program is designed to ignore the usual animals that lurk about the building at night. If either of us had moved or made a noise while the wave passed over us, we would’ve been caught.”

“Good thing I stayed quiet then.” He groaned. “You’re lucky I didn’t ask another question. I wanted to.”

“Yes, well, good thing you didn’t. We’d probably both end up dead or hooked up to the machine in there, our minds being drained into whatever abysmal reality my father chooses to torment us.”

~~~

I hope you guys enjoyed this! What are you guys reading or writing these days? I’m always happy to hear about it, and I’m currently open to new book suggestions, particularly if they’re ones you guys might like to see reviewed on The Fantasy Nook. (To be considered for review, the books do need to be some genre of fantasy, and they can’t be erotica. I have a few younger readers and would like to avoid creating an unsafe or inappropriate environment for them, so I don’t review that sort of stuff.)

If you want to share, you can do so in the comments or, for book suggestions, feel free to shoot me an email if that’s more your cup of tea! Until next week, happy writing and reading, everyone!