Welcome to the Blog Tour and Giveaway for Happy Valley and Return to Edisto by Lin Stepp, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOKS
Title: Happy ValleyAuthor: Lin Stepp
Publisher: Mountain Hill Press
Release Date: April 2, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Escape to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in this sweet tale of two young people who meet by chance, their paths soon overlapping and intertwining amid a cast of warm-hearted characters in the small rural community of Happy Valley.
With Grandpa suffering a heart attack, Juliette Hollander saw little choice but to head back to their Tennessee mountain farm in Happy Valley to help out. She didn’t expect, or want, to leave behind her life and work in North Carolina to return to her grandparents’ home so soon. Nor did she imagine meeting, and working with, the mysterious man she met briefly last summer and never thought to see again.
Walker Logan spent the last two years traveling the United States, seeing the beauty of the country and running from his past. But an old rock house he sees while hiking near Abrams Creek Campground unexpectedly calls to his soul. With danger close behind, he never stayed in one place long enough to put down roots. Yet now, with a new vision, he decides to take the risk.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Title: Return to EdistoSeries: The Edisto Trilogy #2
Author: Lin Stepp
Publisher: Mountain Hill Press
Release Date: April 2, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Return to Edisto Island in the rich, Lowcountry story of a young woman’s difficult decision to run from threat and danger, changing the course of her well-ordered life and, in turn, the life of the young man who loved and lost her.
It was a long trip back to Edisto Island, South Carolina, and the beach house that shaped so much of Mary Helen Avery’s early life. Now her mind flashed between anger and hurt over the difficult situation she’d left behind at the job she loved. Was she doing the right thing to leave? Should she have stayed to fight? She hoped at the quiet, beloved island she knew so well, she’d find the answers she needed and peace from all this turmoil.
J.T.’s heart took a familiar lurch when he saw the car with New Jersey plates parked at the Avery’s beach house. Even after ten years, the memory of Mary Helen Avery still tormented him. Finding her on the porch weeping lit old fires he thought long dead. Was he a fool to hope for something more between them with all their problems of the past? Probably so, but if she stayed long enough, he’d find one more chance to try.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
EXCERPT FROM HAPPY VALLEY
Over coffee and banana bread, the women chatted and
caught up on their lives and news, enjoying being together again. …After a
pause in their conversation, though, Lenora leaned forward across the table, a
hand under her chin, and asked, “And how is Juliette deep inside where no one
sees?”
It was an old familiar line of Lenora’s and brought
tears to Juliette’s eyes to hear it.
“Talk to me,” Lenora said. “You’re unhappy. I can
feel it.”
“Well, I feel guilty to be unhappy. There’s nothing
wrong with my life. … There’s no reason I should feel edgy, restless, and
discontent.”
“But you do.”
“I do.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t either. I
don’t know what in the world is wrong with me.”
Lenora smiled. “Sometimes it takes a while to sort
ourselves out in life, to know who we are within
ourselves.” …
She sighed. “I always feel so torn. Like I can’t
figure out who I am or what I should be.”
Lenora sat quietly for a time and then said,
“Forging an identity takes hard work and involves some struggle and searching
for most people. For women especially, raised eager to please, we hope for an
affirmation from others that we’re on the right course, pursuing the right
thing, becoming what we should become. But frankly, Juliette, the courage to be
who you are and to pursue your own dreams must come from within. You have to
decide personally that your goals are worth pursuing, your talents valuable,
your contributions and service good—despite what others may say or think. You
need to be willing to pay the price to follow your heart and your destiny.”
She smiled at Juliette. “You are an artist, and a
gifted one…. There is a rich creativity inside you, a gift placed there—yes,
put there by God—that yearns to find its place in the world. It would be wrong
to suppress it. Why would you want to do that?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stepp’s latest 2020 releases are Happy Valley, set in a quiet rural valley near the Smoky Mountains, and Return to Edisto, set at Edisto Beach, South Carolina. Lin’s previous title Claire At Edisto was the 2019 Best Books Award Winner in Fiction: Romance, sponsored by American Book Fest, her novel Welcome Back a finalist in the 2017 Selah Awards, and Lin and her husband’s guidebook Discovering Tennessee State Parks a 2019 American Book Fest Best Books Award Finalist in Nonfiction: Travel Guides and Essays.
Lin enjoys speaking for events, festivals, libraries, and book clubs, reading, hiking, exploring out of doors, and keeping up with her readers on Facebook, Twitter, and through her monthly blog and newsletter which you will find on her website at: www.linstepp.com
CONNECT WITH LIN: Website | Facebook | Twitter
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(1) winner will receive a print copy of Happy Valley & Return to Edisto, matching bookmarks, and a $25 Amazon gift card!
Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule shown below. Giveaway will begin at midnight March 23, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on March 30, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US mailing addresses only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.
It's always fun to run across a new author! Especially one with books set in the South and South Carolina in particular.
ReplyDeleteYay! Thank you! - JustRead Tours
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThank You for this exciting giveaway.
ReplyDeleteMarion
Sounds like an awesome read.
ReplyDeleteJolene ... Thanks for hosting my new books HAPPY VALLEY and RETURN TO EDISTO on your site.... and thanks, too, for posting the excerpts! ... I put links on both my Facebook pages and on Twitter to your site. ... Nice to meet you through books. Stay safe and well ... All best, Lin.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the excerpt!
ReplyDeletenice excerpt
ReplyDelete