It is lovely to be on the blog tour today for An Artisan Lovestyle by Kiltie Jackson. There is also the chance to win an Amazon Voucher - details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.
Are you ‘living’ your life or just living your life?
Elsa Clairmont was widowed barely five years after marrying
her childhood sweetheart. She has struggled to come to terms with the loss and,
six years later, has almost ceased to live herself. She does just enough to get
by.
Danny Delaney is the ultimate ‘Mr Nice Guy’. He’s kind,
caring and sweet. A talented artist in his teens, his abusive mother ruined his
career in art and he turned his back on his exceptional gift. Now, he does just
enough to get by.
On New Year’s Eve, both Danny and Elsa die in unrelated
accidents.
Thanks to some poker playing shenanigans, Elsa’s husband
Harry, and Danny’s old Art teacher, William, manage to orchestrate a deal with
Death that allows Danny and Elsa to live for one more year on the condition
they both agree to complete three tasks.
They have until the last chime of Big Ben on the 31st
December to fulfil their quests.
If they succeed, they stay in the world of the living.
If they should fail however…
‘An Artisan Lovestyle’ is a story of personal growth and
self-discovery as two people find themselves forced to make overdue changes in
their lives, changes in other people’s lives, and all with the added challenge
of finding true love before their time runs out.
Will they do it?
Can they do it?
After all, it’s a matter of Life or Death…
My Thoughts
This turned out to be an enjoyable read, where I was willing Elsa and Danny on throughout the book. I appreciate the fact that the comedy comes from from the quirky interludes with the character, Death, which punctuates the story. Elsa and Danny are forced into the situation where they have to make massive changes in their lives and affect others too and every obstacle there is seems to keep them apart. As Elsa and Danny try to come to terms with past events, you sense their relief as they step away from the past. Living for the present and seizing the day seem to be the messages they have to take on board.
This is a longish read which means the plot comes over as being quite involved as the characters move through its choreography. There are plenty of other characters to take your interest and they all have their own stories to tell. I had not realised that there is an earlier book, A Rock 'n' Roll Lovestyle which tells the story of Pete and Sukie, but this one can be read as a standalone. A real page-turner, it keeps your interest to the end.
In short: a romcom with a real message to live for the moment.
About the Author
Kiltie grew up in Glasgow in Scotland, This is a very unique city with a very unique
way of looking at life.
When she was old enough to do so, she moved to London and
then, after several years of obtaining interesting experiences -which are finding
their way into her writing - she moved up to the Midlands.
Kiltie currently lives in Staffordshire with five cats and
one grumpy husband. Her little home is known as Moggy Towers, even though
despite having plenty of moggies, there are no towers! The cats kindly allow
her and Mr Mogs to share their house on the condition they keep paying the
mortgage!
She loves reading, watching movies, and visiting old
castles. She really dislikes going to the gym!
Her biggest desire is that one day she can give up the day
job and write her stories for a living.
Kiltie's debut novel, 'A Rock 'n' Roll Lovestyle', was
released in September 2017 and won a "Chill With A Book - Reader
Award" in December 2017.
She first began writing her debut novel eleven years before
it was released but shelved it as she didn't think it was very good.
In November 2016 when, having read more on a best-selling
author who had begun her own career as a self-published author, she was
inspired to revisit the unfinished manuscript and finally finish what she had
started.
Since beginning to write again, the ideas have not stopped
flowing. 'An Artisan Lovestyle' is the second book in the Lovestyle Series.
Work is due to begin on book three (not yet titled but also
part of the Lovestyle Series) in the Summer of 2018.
She currently has a further ten plots and ideas stored in
her file (it's costing a fortune in USB drives as each story has its own memory
stick!) and the ideas still keep on coming.
Kiltie now lives her life around the following three quotes:
"I love having weird dreams, they're great fodder for
book plots!"
"Why wait for your ship to come in when you can swim
out to meet it?"
"Old enough to know better, young enough not to
care!"
Do check out these great bloggers!
Giveaway (International)
Win a £40 / $40 Amazon Voucher (Open Internationally) To enter, just follow the link below and good luck!
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box
below. The winner will be selected at
random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after
which time I will delete the data. I am
not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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