Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Book Tour for Never-Ending Night by Tanya Stowe (Review & GIVEAWAY)


Author Tanya Stowe is here today with her new release, Never-Ending Night, and with the intriguing premise she created with this story I hope to have her back in the future.  Keep reading to learn more about this thoughtprovoking story with some clever twists and turns and make sure to leave a comment for your chance to win some great books......

On the eve of the Battle of Shiloh, Union soldier Tyler Sheridan has a premonition he is going to die. That night, he writes an epic anti-war poem called “Never-ending Night.” The next day, a cannonball explodes in front of him, but rather than walking through the gates of Heaven, Tyler steps into a modern-day Civil War reenactment. Confused by a world he can’t comprehend, Tyler has no choice but to rely on a beautiful and fascinating photojournalist for help. As Stacy Sutton watches Tyler emerge from the rising smoke of faux cannon fire, she’s amazed by the authenticity of his uniform and demeanor—and then he claims to be from the nineteenth century, a mere delusion according to doctors. But Stacy’s not convinced Tyler is delusional and sees helping him as her second chance—an opportunity to atone for the death of her partner...and her past. As the mystery surrounding Tyler’s appearance deepens, it threatens any hope they have of a future together, and Stacy finds she must discover whether the man she loves is a traveller through time or a mad man lost in his own delusions.

EXCERPT:

This reenactment was an echo, a faint haunting, a tribute to the soldiers. Stacy wanted...needed to capture that tribute, to catch the essence with her camera.
Smoke surrounded her. Men fell everywhere, and Stacy’s camera clicked. The small round lens was her eye, her only vision of the noise and confusion. A gun exploded close to her, but she didn’t lower her camera. Wind blew cannon smoke over the field. She coughed but didn’t stop.
Ahead of her, she saw a dark figure emerging from the smoke. Blue uniform. Hatless. The breeze lifted his golden hair. He had the full sideburns so popular during the Civil War. He was tall, straight. The perfect picture of a Union officer. Handsome face streaked with fake blood on one side.
He stumbled on the rutted ground. Caught himself.
Stacy followed him, never lowering her camera. There was something different about him...something...
He turned. Stacy waited, holding her breath, hoping to catch him as he faced full front. When she did, her heart stopped. His expression was perfect.
Click. Click. Click.
Bewildered. Frightened. Taut with readiness. Everything she’d come to expect in her battle scenes.
A whistling overhead caused him to duck and spin. When nothing exploded on the ground, he raised a trembling hand to his head.
Suddenly, Stacy knew what was different. For him, this was real. This was no remembrance staged for honor. The battle was real.
His was the image she’d been waiting for. Perfect, hauntingly perfect. Neither she, nor millions of other people would ever forget the mixture of pain and sorrow etched across his handsome features.
Unbelievable.
Then the stranger tilted and crumbled like a lifeless rag doll.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

By reading its synopsis you're expecting a simple paranormal TT story with Never-Ending Night by Tanya Stowe.  What you get instead is a very unique and creative story dealing with issues of religion and faith, PTSD and survivor's guilt, and a bit of suspense with a mystery dating back over a hundred years.  That's a lot of issues to deal with but Ms. Stowe ably juggles each while keeping the reader guessing until the end.

Since the death of her friend, Stacy has kept her emotions locked away and just goes through the motions of living until the day a mysterious man comes out of a smoke-filled battlefield.  She feels an instant connection to him and for the first time in a long time wants to form a connection with someone else.  With thoughts of a time long gone, Stacy wants to help him heal and adjust to what his life is now.  She finds in him another lost soul and through his support and belief in her she slowly finds her way back from the solitary abyss of darkness. Tyler comes out of the smoky battlefield convinced he's been at the Battle of Shiloh.  What follows is a man who's become weary of war trying to find peace and forgiveness through a faith that's never deserted him.  He's a good man burdened with guilt, just like Stacy, and their slowly building romance leads them to finding the truth about himself and solving an even bigger mystery.

Ms. Stowe has nicely balanced religion and romance.  There's no overt preaching, just subtle inferences of faith.  The romance builds slowly and remains sweet, there's no tawdry bed play for these two but that doesn't make their relationship any less satisfying.  The story had a nice flow but the ending was a bit abrupt.  While there were many enjoyable secondary characters, I found the inclusion of Dr. Harland rather unnecessary.  His character was over the top with the sole purpose of being villainous.  His entrance and exit in the story was equally abrupt and jarring.  On a whole though this was a wonderfully entertaining story with a clever storyline.  This was my first book from Ms. Stowe but definitely won't be my last.

My rating for this is a B+

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

BUY LINK here.

AUTHOR INFO:

Tanya Stowe has had an eclectic career in market research, arts education and event coordination.  She has written for television, publicity firms, national publications, and even collaborated on a Christmas musical.  Tanya has been married to her high school sweetheart for thirty-nine years. They have four children and eighteen grandchildren.  Recently her husband retired from government work to take a new position.  They live in the Middle East and are sharing many new adventures.

www.TanyaStowe.com
www.creativewritingforces.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/TanyaStoweReadersPage?ref=hl


**********GIVEAWAY**********

Tanya will be awarding a print copy of her Inspirational historical, Tender Touch, at each stop (US only - eBook copies will be substituted for international winners). A grand prize of ecopies of the first 4 books in the Heart's Haven collection will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

-To be entered, leave a comment, along with your email addy.
-Winners will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.
-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 4/12.

21 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for the lovely review and allowing me to visit today. It's great to be here. I'm currently living in the Middle East with a huge time difference but I'll pop in when I can!

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  2. Thank you for the wonderful chance!!

    Kassandra
    sionedkla@gmail.com

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    1. You're welcome, Kassandra. Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. Excellent review and excerpt, thank you. The story sounds very exciting.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  4. Congrats on the new release. Never-Ending Night sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it to see more of Tyler and Stacy. Thanks for the great excerpt and review.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

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  5. Thank you, Joanne, Tyler and Stacy are two of my favorite characters. Hope you enjoy them!

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  6. So sorry ladies but I have to call it a night! It's late in my part of the world. I'll be back first thing tomorrow, your evening to answer questions or just say hi!

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  7. Nice review about the characters

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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    1. It is a nice review and right on target! I seriously considered leaving Dr. Harland out of the book but in the end decided he added some tension. Joder does a great job on her reviews. Thanks Joder and thanks bn100 for stopping by!

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    2. Aaaawwwww, thank you Tanya for your kind words! I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of your books as you have a wonderful writing style.

      The Scarf Princess

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    3. Thanks, Joder! I've never been told I had a nice writing style before so it's nice to hear!

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  8. Whew! I made it back in time to chat with you all before the session ends. It's early morning over here and I'm ready for a new day!

    Just wanted to let you know that you're all entered in the drawing for a copy of Tender Touch. It's the first book in a series. The second book, Tender Trust is due to come out soon. No date yet but I figured folks would want to read the first one. Tender Touch is an historical set in the California Sierras right after the Gold Rush.

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  9. Joanne, you are the winner of the copy of Tender Trust. Congratulations! I'll be contacting you shortly.

    The rest of you are still in the running for the grand prize of a complete set of Heart's Haven novelettes.For more information on this series, you can check out my website www.TanyaStowe.com and join our Facebook page for more fun and giveaways.

    Thanks all! It was fun chatting with you.

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  10. I JUST GOT MY BLOG POST SORRY I MISSED OUT ON PART OF THE GIVEAWAY. GOOD LUCK WITH THE NEW BOOK AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY! SHELLEY S. calicolady60@hotmail.com .

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  11. Thanks for the chance to win.

    dragonkeep62(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. Thanks for the giveaway.

    dragonkeep62(at)gmail(dot)com

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  13. Hi Joder!

    I've been trying to contact you. You're the winner of my thank you gift! Can you contact me? Tanya(at)TanyaStowe.com

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    1. It's been crazy around here so I apologize. Emailing you now.

      Joder
      The Scarf Princess

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