Author: Iola Goulton

Bookish Question #254 | What’s your favourite book with a two-word title?

I find these questions difficult, because I tend to remember books based on the author or the genre or the main characters, not the number of words in a title. But I took a look at my bookshelf, and several favourite titles did jump out at me.

(So apologies to the hundreds of ebooks I’ve read. Searching for a two-word title on a Kindle isn’t as easy as scanning a physical bookshelf.)

The titles were all by the same author, Tamara Leigh. Tamara Leigh curently writes Christian historical fiction/romance set in around the 1300s (I think. I haven’t actually read any, because it’s not a period of history I have a lot of interest in).

She actually started her author career writing historical fiction for the general market. But between her two historical phases, she wrote several contemporary Christian romances which perhaps could be better considered as rom-coms.

All were written in first person point of view with only one point of view character. All had interesting, intelligent heriones. All were funny, yet also managed to cover some serious issues.

And all had two-word titles: Saving Adda, Perfecting Kate, Splitting Harriet, Faking Grace.

My favourite was Faking Grace, where unemployed Maisy Grace decides to fake being a Christian to get a job with a Christian company. I liked Grace, I liked her boss (the “English hottie” she falls for), and I liked the lighthearted redemption story. I’d re-read it, except I loaned my copy to someone and never got it back.

Maybe it’s time to invest in the ebook version …

All she wants is a job. All she needs is religion. How hard can it be?

Maizy Grace Stewart dreams of a career as an investigative journalist, but her last job ended in disaster when her compassion cost her employer a juicy headline. A part-time gig at a Nashville newspaper might be her big break.

A second job at Steeple Side Christian Resources could help pay the bills, but they only hire committed Christians. Maizy is sure she can fake it with her Five-Step Program to Authentic Christian Faith. If only Jack Prentiss, Steeple Side’s managing editor and British hottie, wasn’t determined to prove her a fraud.

When Maizy’s newspaper boss pressures her to expose any skeletons in Steeple Side’s closet, she must decide whether to deliver the dirt and secure her career or lean on her newfound faith, change the direction of her life, and pray that her colleagues—and Jack—will show her grace.

What’s your favourite book with a two-word title?

God gave her everything she wanted and more, and she still let distractions and doubts creep in along the way.

Book Review | Pretty Little Pieces by Carmen Schober

First, a content warning: Pretty Little Pieces starts with a woman having a miscarriage. If that’s going to bother you, perhaps don’t read this one (or start reading at Chapter Two).

Second, Pretty Little Pieces is written in third person, present tense, which I found to be an odd combination. Most novels are third person, past tense. Some are first person, present tense, a combination which is especially popular in Young Adult fiction, or rom-coms. Third person, past tense isn’t unheard of, but it is unusual. It took me a while to get used to this combination – while I didn’t mind the present tense, the character voices were similar and mixed up Georgina and Cassidy a few times.

There was one other thing I should mention: I thought women were supposed to see a healthcare professional after having a miscarriage to ensure they hadn’t had a partial miscarriage (which can lead to some very nasty things). Joanna didn’t, and that bothered me.

Enough commentary. Let’s get on with the review.

Georgina Havoc (great last name!) and her fiancé, Lance Broussard, are being touted as the next Chip and Joanna Gaines as they prepare to host (yet another) design/house flipping TV show. But their relationship – and partnership – evaporate when Lance ghosts her after she shares that she was pregnant but has miscarried.

Georgina’s agent and publicist come up with a new proposal to pitch to the network, featuring Georgina and her previous show partner, best friend Poppy. The network agree to Georgina Rebuilds, and Georgina is off to tiny Tarragon, Tennessee, to restore two neglected cottages.

Cassidy Stokes is a Tarragon local, currently working on the Harp House estate, where Georgina is staying. He’s ex-military and planning to go to El Salvador as a private security contractor … mostly to escape Tarragon and the memories of his first wife.

Georgina and Cassidy are attracted, but their developing relationship is complicated by the fact Georgina is still technically with Lance because she has a non-disclosure agreement saying she can’t announce any change in her relationship status until they agree a breakup – something that’s difficult to impossible when he’s ghosted her.

Pretty Little Pieces is part romance and part women’s fiction. Georgina and Cassidy are both point of view characters (which gives the story the romance feel), but the start is heavy on the women’s fiction side, and it’s definitely Georgina’s story.

I liked Georgina.

She was a sympathetic character in a difficult situation who didn’t magically bounce back (as some characters do). She worked through her troubles, and it was good to see. (Although I did wonder why Lance acted how he did. I think there’s a story there as well.)

Cassidy is a strong Christian, and I liked the way he held firm to his faith and used his own experiences to help bring Georgina back to faith. I also liked Georgina’s twin sister – another character with issues that could be explored in a sequel.

I’m not a fan of house flipping shows and have never watched the Gaines’s show, yet I still enjoyed Pretty Little Pieces. I’m sure Gaines fans will love it even more.

Recommended for fans of fixer-upper reality shows or contemporary Christian romance that gets into the gritty side of life and faith.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Carmen Schober

Carmen Schober is a wife and mother, a proud Cuban-American, and a woman of eclectic interests, ranging from gritty combative sports to feminine design shows. She writes unexpected romance novels for the modern woman, with relatable but inspirational heroines and heroes. When she’s not writing fiction, she blogs about Christianity, motherhood, writing, and everything in between. She earned a master’s degree in English literature and creative writing from Kansas State, and she currently lives in Manhattan, Kansas.

Find Carmen Schober online at:

Website

About Pretty Little Pieces:

Ambitious influencer Georgina Havoc and her designer beau Lance Broussard have been dubbed the next Chip and Joanna Gaines, but their happily-ever-after falls apart when Lance blindsides her with a “pause.” The show must go on, so Georgina takes on the task of renovating a forgotten cottage in the tiny, tight-knit town of Tarragon, Tennessee on her own.

Georgina has a plan to save her relationship–and her show–but a surprise drop-in from her troubled twin sister makes things extra messy. That, and the presence of rugged ex-sniper Cassidy Stokes, who throws a wrench in all her plans.

As she salvages her shattered life, will Georgina retreat to the familiar or embrace a new design?

Find Pretty Little Pieces online at:

Amazon | Bookbub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #261 | What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from What Came Next by Christina Suzanne Nelson, a dual timeline novel with an intriguing mystery to solve.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Faith Byrne's carefully laid plans took advantage of unplanned distractions and skipped town, never to be seen again.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About What Happens Next

Popular podcaster and ex-reporter Faith Byrne has made a name for herself telling stories of greatness after tragedy–but her real life does not mirror the stories she tells. While her daughters spend the summer in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his new wife, she must manage life on her own. But all that changes when she’s asked to spotlight her childhood best friend’s missing person case on her podcast.

Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her, and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter’s belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case.

As the investigation moves forward, the two women uncover desperate secrets, and Faith and Dora must face the long-hidden truth before they can begin to move forward.

Award-winning author Christina Suzann Nelson masterfully leads readers on a journey of discovery, healing, and friendship in this suspenseful and poignant tale.

Find What Happens Next online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads | Koorong

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Bookish Question #253 | Have you ever re-read a book and had it impact you two different ways?

Have I ever re-read a book? Yes, of course I have.

(Although not so much lately, as I have so many books in my to-read pile. I have found myself accidentally re-reading books, because I find them on my Kindle, start reading, and don’t remember that I’ve read them before.)

I’ve actually had that happen a couple of times this year: I only realise I’ve already read the book when I go to add it to my Goodreads list and find it’s already on my Read shelf.

In one case, I thought the book was average and forgettable, so the fact I’d already read it didn’t surprise me (especially when I read my review, which essentially said the book was forgettable).

But the other did surprise me, because I enjoyed it much more the second time around.

That book was The Edge of Mercy by Heidi Chiavaroli.

I’d put off reading it several times because while the book was described as dual timeline, the cover made it look like a historical. That gave me the impression it was set in two historical timelines.

That didn’t interest me because I’ve been going through a contemporary phase (I can’t be the only person who goes through reading phases). Yes, I could have read the actual book description which would have made it clear the book was a contemporary, but that is one of the disadvantages of reading on Kindle: there isn’t a back cover with a book description.

Anyway, once I started it (again), I realized The Edge of Mercy is actually a contemporary story that has flashbacks to the past through a diary.

Here’s the Amazon description:

Two women, three hundred years apart, must face the devastation of all they hold dear…

Suspecting her husband is having an affair, Sarah Rodrigues fights to appear unbroken while attempting to salvage her family. Though distracted by her own troubles, Sarah is summoned to an elderly friend’s deathbed for an unusual request—find a long-lost daughter and relay a centuries-old family story.

Determined not to fail her friend, Sarah pieces together the story of her neighbor’s ancestor, Elizabeth Baker, a young colonist forced into an unwanted betrothal but drawn to a man forbidden by society.

While Sarah’s family teeters on the edge of collapse, her world is further shaken by the interest of a caring doctor and a terrible accident that threatens a life more precious than her own.

Inspired by the unconditional love she uncovers in Elizabeth’s story, Sarah strives to forgive those who’ve wounded her soul. But when light shines on the dark secrets of her neighbor’s past and the full extent of her husband’s sins, will looking to a power greater than herself rekindle lost hope?

The Edge of Mercy reminded me of The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers.

The heroine married young, and focused on raising a family while her husband built a successful business. Now her husband has now left her for another woman.

As with The Scarlet Thread, the writing in The Edge of Mercy was excellent, and the story focusses on the woman: on her reaction to being suddenly single, on an external event (her neighbor dying) that pushes her to look beyond herself, and on her eventual (but subtle) reconciliation with God through the story. It’s also a story of the main character, Sarah, as she tries to find her identity now her marriage has ended. As she says on the first page:

I … couldn’t imagine who I was without Matt to define me.”

I think that’s what got my attention this time: a main character with a mistaken view about her identity. We should not identify ourselves purely in relation to those around us. We are more than someone’s daughter or wife or mother or colleague or friend.

As Christians, our identity is in Christ.

And I wanted Sarah to discover that …

What about you? Have you ever read a book a second time and had it impact you differently?

How could they stop the Jingle Bell Bomber's deadly game?

Book Review | Explosive Christmas Showdown by Darlene L Turner

There’s a meme going around Facebook right now that encapsulates why I’m not really a fan of Christmas romances:

A moment of silence for all the big city, suit-wearing guys who are about to get dumped for a small-town guy wearing flannel in a Hallmark Christmas movie this holiday season.

So I was a little apprehensive about signing up to Darlene L Turner’s review team to read and review Explosive Christmas Showdown, her latest title from Love Inspired Suspense. After all, Christmas is right there in the title …

But when I read the book description, I realised this wasn’t the cliché Hallmark Christian romance the meme is mocking. Explosive Christmas Showdown starts with a bang:

Someone in your office will die today.

And the pace doesn’t let up until the final page.

It was the perfect blend of all the components that go to making up a great romance.

There was Olive Wells, an intelligence analyst for the federal police in Ottawa – I always like a professional woman who is good at her job. There was Zac Turner, her ex-fiancé, who is also a law enforcement professional – who is immediately loveable enough that I wondered why they ever broke up.

There is Zika, Zac’s K-9 partner in policing – I am always suspicious of a man who doesn’t like animals, so a dog handler is a perfect occupation for a romance hero. And there is the evildoer: the Jingle Bell Bomber, someone from Olive’s past with vengeance on their mind.

Olive and Zac used to be together, so I enjoyed finding out more about their history and why they broke up when they are so evidently a great match (yes, I always enjoy a good reunion romance, especially in shorter fiction like Love Inspired, as long as there is a good reason for them breaking up in the first place. In this case, there was).

Ziva was lovely. I’m more of a cat person than a dog person, but even I want a Ziva of my own. The suspense was excellent. While we’re made aware early on that the bomber knows Olive, their identity isn’t obvious, which adds to the tension. And there is plenty of tension, both from the bombs and the romance.

All in all, Explosive Christmas Showdown has everything I enjoy in a novel, set in a snowy December in Ontario (so nothing like the sunny Christmases I experience living in New Zealand).

Recommended for fans of Christian romantic suspense.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Darlene L Turner

Darlene L TurnerDarlene L. Turner is an award-winning author and lives with her husband, Jeff in Ontario, Canada. Her love of suspense began when she read her first Nancy Drew book. She’s turned that passion into her writing and believes readers will be captured by her plots, inspired by her strong characters, and moved by her inspirational message.

Find Darlene L Turner online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

About Explosive Christmas Showdown

A bomber brings terror to Christmas

as the presents go tick…tick…boom.

With criminal investigative analyst Olive Wells at the center of a bomber’s dangerous game, she’ll do anything to catch the culprit—even work with her ex-fiancé and his K-9 detector dog. But with the Christmas rampage drawing ever closer, Zac Turner’s convinced the attacks are personal. Can they piece together their ties to the bomber…before another gift explodes?

You can find Explosive Christmas Showdown online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #260 | Authentically Izzy by Pepper Basham

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Authentically Izzy by Pepper Basham. It’s an epistolary novel, a genre I enjoy and would love to see more of.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

This is a cautionary tale. A tale of family, literary classics, podiatry, matchmaking, Shakespeare, and distance.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Authentically Izzy

Dear Reader,

My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood—Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You’ll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin—who, really, is more like my sister—signed me up for an online dating community.

The trouble is . . . it worked. I’ve met my book-quoting Mr. Right, and our correspondence has been almost too good to be true. But Brodie lives across an ocean. And just the other day, a perfectly nice author and professor named Eli came into the library where I work and asked me out for a coffee. I feel a rom-com movie with a foreboding disaster nipping at my heels.

But I’ve played it safe for a long time. Maybe it’s time for me to be as brave as my favorite literary heroines. Maybe it’s time to take the adventures from the page to real life. Wish me luck.

Authentically,

Izzy

Find Authentically Izzy online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Do you pre-order books?

Bookish Question #252 | Do you Pre-order Books?

Do you pre-order books? What would make you pre-order a book?

I often pre-order ebooks, but almost never pre-order a paper book. Because I’m mostly an ebook reader, I tend to only buy nonfiction in paperback, or novels I want to gift or loan to other people.

So what entices me to pre-order an ebook?

If it’s cheap.

If I see an advertisement for a book I’m interested in and it’s on pre-order for 99 cents, I’m likely to click on that pre-order button. My rationale is that it supports the author, I’m not likely to get it cheaper, and I’ve only lost a dollar or so if I end up not enjoying the book (although I’m less likely to click on pre-order next time if I don’t enjoy the book).

I may even pre-order at $1.99 or $2.99, but then it will depend on how much I have liked the author’s previous books. If it’s any more expensive than that, I’m more likely to wait until after it’s released so I can check the sample before buying.

If it’s a favourite author.

I’m more likely to click the pre-order button if a book is by a favourite author, especially if the pre-order is the sequel to the book I’ve just read (and even more so if there is a short sample to whet my appetite).

This has been known to backfire. I recently pre-ordered the third book in a series from a favourite author, then realised I hadn’t read the first two books in the series. As it happened, I already had the second book, and the first book was currently free, so I downloaded it.

I started the first book, but didn’t like the main character. I started the second book, but didn’t like either of the main characters. So I cancelled the pre-order. I now see it has 100+ 5-star reviews, but I’m not tempted. I’m glad a lot of people like it, but it’s not for me. And that’s okay

So what makes me (or entices me) to pre-order a book?

Basically, it’s price, genre, and author … author if I’ve read their books (or especially that series) before, and price if it’s a new-to-me author.

What about you? Do you pre-order books? If so, why?

But what if I came to this place for such a time as this? Has God placed us here for a purpose?

Book Review | Like the Wind by Robyn Lee Hatcher

Six years ago, Olivia’s husband divorced her, leaving her with nothing, not even custody of their daughter, Emma. But Daniel is now dead, forcing Emma to leave her friends, her school, and her home in Florida to live with her mother in Bethlehem Springs, Idaho. Predictably, there is a lot of conflict between Olivia and fifteen-year-old Emma. Olivia is an excellent parent, and never criticises her dead ex-husband no matter how easy that would have been or how much he deserved it, but there is still tension between the two. After all, they are virtually strangers.

Tyler Murphy grew up in foster care, and now works for a law firm, investigating families to make sure the children are being protected. Conveniently, his newest case is in his home town, hired by Peter Ward to investigate the daughter-in-law he’s never met. That was an obvious set-up for future conflict, and was perhaps a little too predictable.

And, given this is a contemporary romance, there is the obvious building relationship between Olivia and Tyler, and Tyler’s inevitable  big reveal that goes exactly as well as I’d expected. I have to admit that I’m not a fan of plots where there is a big secret that you know is going to go down like a lead balloon when it’s revealed. Yes, I know we want to see some tension in the novel, but I still want to be surprised.

That all made sense. What didn’t make as much sense was the inclusion of journal extracts from an unnamed woman writing in the 1930s, as the Great Depression took hold of California. It wasn’t clear who was writing the journal until around the halfway point. As such, I didn’t find it nearly as interesting as the contemporary plot … and I probably thought it detracted from the overall plot for most of the novel.

As it turned out, the journal was an excellent choice for showing the story’s spiritual arc, as the journal writer shared her thoughts on and struggles with God in mini sermons. While I still preferred the contemporary arc, I do think the journal was a clever literary device.

Like the Wind by Robin Lee Hatches is a strong contemporary Christian romance featuring an older couple with excellent writing. Share on X

Overall, Like the Wind was a strong contemporary romance with excellent writing and lots of strong characters. It’s also nice to see an older couple in Christian romance (Tyler is forty and never married; Olivia is a little younger).

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Robin Lee Hatcher

Robin Lee HatcherBest-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Winner of the Christy, the RITA, the Carol, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice, and many other industry awards, Robin is also a recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from both Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. She is the author of 75+ novels and novellas with over five million copies in print.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. Her main hobby (when time allows) is knitting, and she has a special love for making prayer shawls. A mother and grandmother, Robin and her husband make their home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet, the high-maintenance Papillon, and Princess Pinky, the DC (demon cat).

Find Robin online at:

Website | Facebook | Google+ | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

About Like the Wind

A life in pieces. A hundred-year-old journal. And a chance for love to be reborn.

Olivia Ward arrived in Bethlehem Springs alone—with no job, no home, and no money—after her manipulative ex-husband used his power and wealth to destroy everything. Six years later, the peaceful life she rebuilt is once again turned upside down when she learns that her fifteen-year-old daughter, Emma, will be coming to live with her. The reunion should be a dream come true, but years of deception have driven a wedge between them. And Emma seems more interested in an old diary she discovered than reconciliation with her mother.

Tyler Murphy knows what it’s like to lose everything. Propelled by his history in the foster-care system, he’s determined to root out dishonesty and protect the most vulnerable through his work as an investigator. When he’s hired to investigate Olivia Ward, though, he finds himself longing to believe she’s exactly who she appears to be, and he soon realizes that his desire to learn more about her has nothing to do with his job. But how can he pursue a relationship that began with a lie?

In this latest novel from award-winning author Robin Lee Hatcher, an antique diary, a family-fueled investigation, and unexpected feelings collide to create a promise that’s worth fighting for.

You can find Like the Wind online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #259 | Calor by JJ Fischer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Calor, the first book in the Nightingale trilogy by Australian author JJ Fischer. I’m not always a fan of fantasy, but this Young Adult novel has a unique hook that might make me change my mind …

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

His father might be in the middle of saving the world, but Dorian was still bored.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Calor

What if you could edit memories with a single touch?

The world-that-was is gone, lost to everything except living memory . . . but remembering comes at a terrible price. Sixty-two years after the apocalypse, a new society has emerged from the ashes of the old world where highly valued memories are traded and nostalgia is worth dying—and even killing—for.

Enslaved by a cruel master, Sephone Winter is forced to use her rare ability to manipulate memories to numb the darkest secrets of the ruling aristocracy.

Then Lord Adamo appears, speaking of a powerful relic capable of permanently erasing memories and recovering Sephone’s own lost childhood. But not everything about the young lord is as it seems, and soon Sephone must choose between helping Lord Adamo forget his past or journeying deep into the land of Lethe, where the truth about who she really is might finally be revealed . . . and a long desired future restored.

The Nightingale Trilogy is a fantasy transformation of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved 1843 tale The Nightingale, with echoes of the myths of Hades and Persephone.

Find Calor online at:

Amazon | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Do you ever find yourself taken out of a novel because of a character's name?

Bookish Question #251 | Do you ever find yourself taken out of a novel because of a character’s name?

Yes.

One thing that brings me out of a novel is when I can’t picture the character.

So if a character has a gender-ambiguous name and their gender isn’t immediately clear, it pulls me out of the story. (And I mostly read Christian fiction, so the characters are all male or female. The author isn’t trying to be ambiguous, as might be the case in general market fiction.) I don’t need a lot of character description.

I just need to know if I’m in the head of the hero or the heroine.

It could be that the authors know their characters so well that they assume everyone will know Hunter and Cameron are male characters. But the first Hunter I met in real life was a teenage girl, and the Cameron I “know” best is the female doctor on the famous TV series, House.

Then there are the names which can apply to either gender:

  • Ashley/Ashleigh
  • Lesley/Leslie
  • Billie/Billy

Those last two are all the more confusing as the “ie” ending is male for Leslie, but female for Billie (well, I’ve never met a male Billie).

Then there are non-English names, like Iola (which is Welsh, and means “valued by the Lord”). My sister’s name means “fair maiden”, so she was somewhat surprised to meet a male with her name. (There is a traditional masculine version, but that’s spelled differently. This boy definitely had the female spelling).

Another reason is when I’ve seen the character’s name in a novel by another author in the same genre.

I’ve seen this a couple of times. In one, it was made clear that the characters were the same, and that the author had “borrowed” the character with the permission of the other author.

The shared character was Gwen Marcey, from Carrie Stuart Parks’s Gwen Marcey series. I liked that, and it made sense. Gwen Marcey is a forensic artist, the books were set in the same part of the USA, and it made sense that the characters mentioned Gwen in the context of the story.

But I read another novel where a character shared an unusual name with a character from a novel by one of the author’s mentors. It was never clear whether they were the same character or not, and that detracted from my enjoyment because I was wondering about the character, not the story.

I’ve also read multi-author series where the different authors share some of the same characters. This doesn’t bother me, because it’s been established all the authors are writing in the same series, so it makes sense that they’d share some characters.

So yes, I have sometimes found myself taken out of a novel because of the character’s name.

What about you? Do you ever find yourself taken out of a novel because of a character’s name?