C Gockel Writes

Book Review: A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole

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A Hope Divided A Novel of the Civil War by Alyssa ColeI picked up A Hope Divided with some trepidation. You know how you read a really good book, and after reading it you feel 1) Bereft 2) Certain that no other book can live up to your expectations. 3) You worry that the next book will be the same book with different names slapped on the previous characters. I was in that sort of post book high low after reading An Extraordinary Union.

A Hope Divided wasn’t An Extraordinary Union … it was better. It has all the things I loved about An Extraordinary Union: forbidden love, high stakes romance, history, and characters I really liked, but I think that I could identify with the characters a little more. An Extraordinary Union’s hero and heroine are based on real people, but they’re so blazingly heroic that in some ways it’s harder to identify with them. Hope’s Marlie and Ewan are more vulnerable; they are heroic in the story, but it is more because they have to be. They are both quiet individuals who’d probably be happier in a lab, but the war has forced them outside their comfort zones and they’re trying to make the best of it.

A little about the story: Marlie Lynch is half white and half black, a free black woman living with the very wealthy white half of her family in the Carolinas. She exists in a strange parallel world. She has the benefits of wealth and freedom, but the limitations of her race and sex. Her black mother was a “root woman,” and practitioner of “hoo-doo.” Marlie has turned the practical parts of her mother’s knowledge into a herbalist business.

I’m going to just say right here, that I was really impressed by how the author Alyssa Cole combined science and superstition in this book. She could have made magic real, or she could have dismissed it. Instead she walked a very narrow middle road and did a wonderful job showing how for Marlie’s slave ancestors, magic was really about trying to take control of their lives in a world that offered them few chances to do so. It also shows though, that some of their knowledge wasn’t just superstition.

Like a lot of romance novel series, the two male heroes are related. That may seem contrived to those unfamiliar with the genre–and indeed it is a little bit, but hey, it is a romance novel and I really liked Ewan. He isn’t like his brother at all, which is part of the reason this book is so good. He has a much more scientific mind, and he’s a joy to read. I’m not going to say too much more about that …

This book could be subtitled “Introverts in Love.” Alyssa Cole has captured the minds of two people who have very complex inner lives, and brings them out into the world. Danger runs high throughout the book. The romance is believable and incredibly sweet. (There are smexy scenes, so if those aren’t your cuppa, you might not like it. All of those scenes were well done and fit the characters, developed the story, and were more than just needing some nookie just because … )

Wonderful book. If you like historical romance definitely pick it up. It is traditionally published, and a little more expensive at $9.99 … but worth it. If you’re on a budget, it should be fairly easy to get your library to pick it up.


Happy reading!

An Extraordinary Union

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LOOKING FOR A BOOK TO READ? This weekend I read An Extraordinary Union, by Alyssa Cole. I started this book Saturday and just finished it–so you know, basically I inhaled it. It’s got everything: forbidden love, great historical detail, believable characters, and high stakes action.

The story takes place during the Civil War, and features two Union spies who fall in love while on assignment in Richmond, Virginia, capital of the Confederacy. (Dun-dun-dunnnnnn!)

Elle Burns is a freed black woman posing as a slave, and her love interest is a Scottish immigrant. Elle has helped others on the Underground Railroad her entire life, and she has a secret gift–an eidetic memory. Her motivations for risking her life for the Union are obvious, but they are well explored, without ever being boring. We get to see her uneasy relationship with abolitionists–some who still don’t view African Americans as being much more than animals. And we see her uneasy place as a well-educated woman in Civil War era society, and what that means for her romantic life. These aspects of her were complicated, and for that reason felt authentic to me. Her growing feelings for a white spy were also extremely conflicted, which I found very believable.

Also, what’s not to love about forbidden love?

Ahem.

Malcolm McCall, the white spy in question, is a Scottish immigrant whose family was forced to leave Scotland after their land was seized by the British. One of the strengths of this story was that it showed how that experience gave him empathy for the plight of enslaved African Americans. (It also made me want to read up more on that era of Scottish history.) It also showed how the experience of oppression changes from place to place, but how in some ways, it is eerily similar. It also gives the story a global context, which I liked.

Even though intellectually Malcolm knows that a long-term relationship with Elle will not be recognized by law, or by many people, he is much less conflicted about it. His outlook was naive, but felt real. I know a German family that lived for a time in South Africa under apartheid. They did not understand “the rules,” befriended black Africans, and made everyone uncomfortable on occasion–even, unintentionally, their black friends.

Side note: it was also charming how Elle reminded him of his Mum, personality-wise. I think we tend to look for “the familiar” when we fall in love. And Elle is familiar to Malcom in the most important way. She’s smart and knows her own mind (though not always her heart.)

The heat level in this book is high. There are fairly graphic sex scenes, but the scenes do offer character insights. If it’s not you’re thing though, this might not be the book for you.

I just bought the next book in the series … which I think is a pretty decent endorsement.

Get it at Amazon

Happy Reading!

I’ll be releasing my next book in Kindle Unlimited

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I want to release Soul Marked at 99¢, it’s the first book in a brand new series, and I want to make it as affordable as possible.

Soul Marked: After the Fire Book 1It’s almost time to release Soul Marked, the first book in my After the Fire paranormal romance series. The After the Fire books take place in the I Bring the Fire Universe, and there will be cameos from familiar characters, but they’ll all be complete standalones, with no previous knowledge of I Bring the Fire or the other After the Fire books required.

After the Fire will be filled with the same mix of action, adventure, and “sci-fantasy” that I Bring the Fire and Archangel Project fans have come to expect, but they are paranormal romances, so they’ll have a bit more romance, and each book will end with a Happily Ever After for the characters featured. Like I Bring the Fire and Archangel there will be adult themes, but there will be no onscreen sexy times.

At 99¢ I can reliably count on 200 sales at release from my fans on Amazon, and about 40 sales combined on all other vendors. Even if I was to price at $2.99 that wouldn’t be enough to recoup the $1500 I have invested in editing, covers, and promotions for Soul Marked. That’s assuming I’d sell 240 books in a new series the first month at a higher price point, a huge assumption!

So I need NEW fans. By releasing at 99¢ and remaining there for a few days I hope to rank higher and get more visibility. The visibility should attract enough Kindle Unlimited subscribers to help me recoup costs within the first few months. (Hopefully by Christmas!)

Because a condition of Kindle Unlimited is exclusivity, I will not be releasing the ebooks immediately to all vendors (paperbacks will be available everywhere.)

I have been agonizing for months over this decision. I’d really like to sell my book wide and release immediately to OverDrive–the library lending system and the only way all my books are truly “free.” At the same time, I have to make business decisions based on what is best for my family, and I need to break even as quickly as possible.

If you are not a Kindle owner Kindle does offer a FREE app for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. It can be downloaded onto the new Samsung Nooks as well. I have used this app on my late and very ancient iPhone (retired just this year–an iPhone 4! The app worked terrific!) And I use it now on my new Samsung Galaxy phone.

Which leaves Kobo readers … There are ways to convert Kindle MOBI files to ePubs with Calibre. I also know that some Kindle Unlimited authors offer ePubs to fans that prove they’ve purchased on Amazon. I’m looking into the feasibility of this–primarily trying to determine if it will break Amazon’s Terms of Service. I will get back to you!

For those of you who won’t get the novel on your preferred reader, I hope the 99¢ introductory rate is at least a small consolation–I hope a story you love is a bigger consolation. (Fingers crossed.) I may at some point release wide, I just to have to see where the series stands in a year or so, see what read-thru is like, and what the demand would be on other vendors. Decisions like this are some of the worst in self-publishing, and I thank you for your understanding.

Orphans in the Black (a new home for Murphy’s Star)

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Get it FREE as part of Kindle Unlimited at Amazon U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Australia

A few years ago I wrote a short story called Murphy’s Star. It’s about a scientist traveling to a distant planet who picks up an alien *koffs* passenger during cryosleep.

Murphy’s Star launched my career. But lately, it has fallen into obscurity. I decided to give it a new home. I wanted the new home to have awesome stories that my fans who’d read Murphy’s would love. So, Orphans in the Black was born. This is a collection with a ton of heart. There is plenty of adventure, but the really big battles are internal. There are authors I know some of you love already: Lindsay Buroker, Christine Pope, M.R. Forbes, and others. There are also lesser known authors I think you’ll fall in love with.

I loved putting this collection together. I’m sure you’ll love it too. This collection is available for 99¢ for a limited time and is FREE in Kindle Unlimited.

The Imp Series Box Set ~ by Debra Dunbar

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Imp Series 1-3 In the writing world there is, let us say, a difference of opinion on the merits of “genre fiction.” There are a lot of people for whom there is “literature”, which is deep and meaningful … and their is entertaining fluff, aka, genre fiction, which is not.

I call BS.

You can write things that are accessible and page turners that has deeper meanings and philosophical implications with multifaceted characters readers can care about. The genre fiction I like always does that, and the Imp Series is a prime example. The series explores the relationship of Chaos and Order, through Sam, an Imp hiding out on Earth, and her relationships with Demons, Angels, Humans, and others. The author, Debra Dunbar, has a degree in English with an emphasis on Medieval Literature and Folklore, and it really comes through in the Imp series as well as her Templar books. Her Angels aren’t sweet and nice (hey, in the Bible, Angels almost always say, “Be not afraid,” which kinda hints that they might be a bit scary.) Her demons aren’t misunderstood bad boys waiting to be saved either. They are their own damned species (ha!)

The great thing about the Imp series, is that Sam, being an Imp, is funny. There are laugh out loud moments, because even when her neck is on the line, she can be distracted by things like a chicken wand … which, considering she is an Imp, makes perfect sense.

Sam can be diabolical–much more so than my Loki–but she is fiercely loyal to her friends whether human, demon, or other. Oh, and bonus, the humans aren’t helpless. When they catch on to demonic danger, they fight back with guns. Lots and lots of guns.

Each story in this set is complete, but you’ll still want to rip right through the collection, because the characters rapidly become like old friends. I started reading these and didn’t write for a whole week … so … yeah. Getting the first three in a box set is a really good deal and you’ll wind up saving a lot of money.