GREAT REVIEWS SELL BOOKS, SO DON'T KEEP YOURS A SECRET

Many of you have been submitting your ‘Bestie’ book reviews to us, and I’m getting them posted as quickly as I can. And as a bonus, I create a nifty banner which you are free to use wherever you like. It’s just one way to get both your readers and the search engines to notice you and get a bit of extra free exposure for your book(s). So keep those reviews coming, using the template at: https://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2026/01/send-us-your-fav-book-review.html. 

EXPANDING THE REACH OF YOUR REVIEW

We've started a little contest, rewarding the author(s) whose posted review(s) get the highest number of views. So if you haven’t yet sent us a proud-to-share review for any of your books, CLICK HERE, (or copy and paste: https://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2026/01/send-us-your-fav-book-review.html into your browser) to use this form to do so. 

CONTEST DETAILS

 Every time someone views your posted review, it automatically registers another vote for your book. So here’s the thing: Keep sending others to the link for your posted review. Don’t worry if you haven’t yet submitted a review, all submitted reviews, once posted, become automatic entries into our TheNewBookReviewBlogSpot Most Popular Books contest, with the tally ending on June 30, 2027. And by the way, it’s perfectly okay for you to remind your friends that you have a fave review on our blog, complete with the permalink to make it easy for them to find. 

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

Winners names and book titles will have  permanent placement on our blog. (Just click on the gold ribboned Award decal on our side panel to see where your name and book title would be placed if you are a winner.) **  And this contest is a great way for every book with a posted review to get some additional exposure. You know, the more people who read your posted review(s), the more possibility of book sales. So why not give it a try? It’s free and maybe you will be a lucky winner! 

** WARNING: The Sidebar is not visible from iPhone’s, so view from your Ipad or laptop instead. 

Here's to getting more eyeballs focused on your books! 

Lois W. Stern, TheNewBookReview Associate and Facilitator, works with a passion to help other authors strengthen their visibility on this blog and elsewhere. She is also the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. And best of all, her services are Free. As such, Lois serves as an outreach to help other authors brand themselves as authors of talent. She has now published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured anthologies and six award winning Tales2Inspire 2-in-1 Diamond Collection anthologies of her contest winners' stories. Lois is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV, The Authors Show podcast and in live presentations in varied venues. 

                              CLICK HERE to get a FREE Tales2Inspire book with six of those award winning stories.

 https://www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

Website: https://www.tales2inspire.com

E-MAIL: tales2inspire2@gmail.com

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish the reviews of books they want to share with others; that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. NewBookReview associate Lois W. Stern is the silver circle associate in charge of review submissions and the one who keeps services offered on this blog to authors free with her AuthorsHelpingAuthors projects. Please see submission guidelines in Lois W. Stern’s silver circle icons in the right column of this blog, in a tab at the top of this blog's home page, or go directly to the submission guidelines at https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. (WARNING some cell phones cut off the right column of this blog, so try it using your desktop!) Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine (the link is also found in the right column!) handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com and #FrugalSmartTuned-InEditor.blogspot.com. Learn more about the team using our frequent hashtags: #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing and Carolyn’s website, HowToDoItFrugally https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews.

Heads up About a Great Podcast Opportunity for Authors

Carolyn and I always like sharing helpful marketing tips with our blog followers, so here's a heads up about a great podcast opportunity, The Authors Show, a reputable podcast devoted exclusively to authors.  

This is how it works: You are sent questions in advance, so there are no surprises. There is no fee to participate and then, once the audio interview is finished and professionally edited, it is posted on multiple social media platforms, with your book cover and a synopsis of your book included. These first steps are free, but only for 24 hours. Then once the recording is completed, you can purchase an MP3 copy of your interview for your extended personal use. I went the extra mile and did just that. 

This next step took me some time to put together, but I personally think it is the best PR piece I have done for myself: I made a film detailing my journey as the creator of Tales2Inspire, using the Apple program, IMovie, by integrating segments of voice from that podcast with relevant pictures. I posted it on my website BIO page, which, according to google, has been huge drawing card to my website.

I now have two videos on my BIO page. 

CLICK HERE if you want to watch my film adaptation of The Authors Show interview, 

or if you're really curious about me, watch the film I made some years ago about my writer's journey, CLICK HERE.

 Lois W. Stern, TheNewBookReview Associate and Facilitator, works with a passion to help other authors strengthen their visibility on this blog and elsewhere. She is also the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. And best of all, her services are Free. As such, Lois serves as an outreach to help other authors brand themselves as authors of talent. She has now published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured anthologies and six award winning Tales2Inspire 2-in-1 Diamond Collection anthologies of her contest winners' stories. Lois is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV, The Authors Show podcast and in live presentations in varied venues. 

                              CLICK HERE to get a FREE Tales2Inspire book with six of those award winning stories.

 https://www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

Website: https://www.tales2inspire.com

E-MAIL: tales2inspire2@gmail.com

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish the reviews of books they want to share with others; that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. NewBookReview associate Lois W. Stern is the silver circle associate in charge of review submissions and the one who keeps services offered on this blog to authors free with her AuthorsHelpingAuthors projects. Please see submission guidelines in Lois W. Stern’s silver circle icons in the right column of this blog, in a tab at the top of this blog's home page, or go directly to the submission guidelines at https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. (WARNING some cell phones cut off the right column of this blog, so try it using your desktop!) Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine (the link is also found in the right column!) handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com and #FrugalSmartTuned-InEditor.blogspot.com. Learn more about the team using our frequent hashtags: #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing and Carolyn’s website, HowToDoItFrugally https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews.

FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND: AN INTRODUCTION TO TheNewBookReviewBlog.Spot

HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS BLOG

Carolyn and I want each of you to get the most benefit from this blog, so here is our quick and easy intro.   

For starters, be sure to enter our blog using your laptop or IPad, but NOT your IPhone, as sadly the sidebar icons don’t appear on iPhones. 

Once there, before you simply click on the word FOLLOW to add your icon to this blog, we recommend that you take a moment with one extra step to enable your photo to appear instead of your initial. We think it is well worth your effort to do this because the search engines love pictures, so uploading your photo is just one more way to help get your name out there in cyberspace. 

HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO

We consulted our magic genie, AI, to learn how to make your headshot appear instead of your initial. Here is what s/he told us:

Go to Blogger.com.

Click on your profile picture/name in the top right corner.

Select "Blogger Profile".

Click the orange "Edit Profile" button.

Upload a photo in the "Profile Photo" section. 

HINT: If you have a selfie of you holding your book, even better. But in any case, this is one simple way to help the search engines discover you. 

Once done, take a quick tour down the right lower side of the blog for the new offerings in the works. Some are still in transition, but all will be there to help you on your road to success. Our newest feature, still under construction, is our INDEX.

 

By clicking on the sidebar INDEX, you will find a listing and a ink to many of our posted articles, all in one place. We know your time is limited, so this gives you a quick and easy way to find some of those key posts in a time efficient way.  

Then further down that sidebar, click on any of the gold rimmed silver circles to explore some of our other features.

As we progress, we'll be sending you more short little emails to guide you. But for starters, just hitting that FOLLOW button and adding your picture gives the search engines a nudge in your direction.   

Lois W. Stern is the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest with no entrance fees, a labor of love to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. Now in its thirteenth year, Stern has published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured Tales2Inspire Gem Collection anthologies, each with a different Gemstone emblazoned on its cover, to match the theme of the stories within that particular collection. Learn more about this fascinating project, and the woman who created it, in two quick films at https://www.tales2Inspire.com/BIO.

Stern is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As an Associate at the award winning blog, TheNewBookReviewBlogSpot, Stern serves as an outreach, helping other authors brand themselves as authors of talent.

Grab some of her Freebies at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts

Visit her Facebook page at /Facebook.com/tales2inspire  

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish the reviews of books they want to share with others; that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. NewBookReview associate Lois W. Stern is the silver circle associate in charge of review submissions and the one who keeps services offered on this blog to authors free with her AuthorsHelpingAuthors projects. Please see submission guidelines in Lois W. Stern’s silver circle icons in the right column of this blog, in a tab at the top of this blog's home page, or go directly to the submission guidelines at https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. (WARNING some cell phones cut off the right column of this blog, so try it using your desktop!) Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine (the link is also found in the right column!) handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com and #FrugalSmartTuned-InEditor.blogspot.com. Learn more about the team using our frequent hashtags: #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing and Carolyn’s website, HowToDoItFrugally https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews.

CHASING HOPE ~ A STORY THAT STAYS WITH YOU

BOOK TITLE: CHASING HOPE

AUTHOR OF BOOK: Joy Lynn Goddard with Daniel Pike

GENRE: Women's Fiction

ISBN: 97810677110-0-9

PAGE COUNT: 326

AMAZON or FAVE LINK to BUY BOOK:  

https://www.amazon.ca/Chasing-Hope-Joy-Lynn-Goddard/dp/1067711007

REVIEWER: Jodi Cooper, Originally for Amazon 

X PERMISSION GRANTED TO SHARE REVIEW: 

FULL REVIEW 

5 out of 5 stars

A Story That Stays With You

Reviewed in Canada on September 3, 2026

Format: Paperback

While reading Chasing Hope, I kept thinking about how family is often the people we choose, not just the families we are born into. They are the people who love us, support us, show up for us, and to whom we give back in return. Finding this kind of family is precious and worth cherishing. I was also moved by the book’s portrayal of resilience. It reminded me that strength isn’t about overcoming hardship on our own. Sometimes it means accepting help, continuing to love, and finding reasons to hope when life feels overwhelming. I especially appreciated the message that our difficult experiences can become a reason to extend compassion to others and help create something better in the world around us.

This story left me with a renewed appreciation for how much one person’s kindness can matter in another person’s life, and how our paths can come together in unexpected ways and make us stronger together. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a heartfelt story about family, resilience, compassion, and hope.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joy Lynn Goddard and her husband, Daniel Pike, write adult fiction that blends mystery, romance, and suspense. Their first novel, Moonshadow, won a Book Excellence Award, a Reader Ready Award (Recommended Read), and a Canada Book Award. Their second novel, The Keepers, also won a Canada Book Award. In addition to their novels, they wrote a screenplay adapted from their novel A Good Mother and a collection of humorous short stories about the real estate industry, Buyers, Liars, Sellers and Yellers.

Although Joy is well known for her award-winning young adult and middle-grade fiction, with her books in schools across Canada, her novels with Daniel have found readers around the world. Joy and Dan divide their time between Guelph and Belleville, Ontario, where they enjoy spending time with their growing family when they are not working on their next book.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Jodi Cooper is an educator, art therapist, and filmmaker living in Eastern Ontario with her husband and two dogs. When she’s not working, she can usually be found reading, working on a creative project, travelling, or enjoying a coffee and good conversation. She’s endlessly curious and especially drawn to stories that explore creativity, connection, and what it means to be human.

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW ASSOCIATE, LOIS W. STERN

Lois W. Stern is the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest with no entrance fees, a labor of love to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. Now in its thirteenth year, Stern has published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured Tales2Inspire Gem Collection anthologies, each with a different Gemstone emblazoned on its cover, to match the theme of the stories within that particular collection. Learn more about this fascinating project, and the woman who created it, in two quick films at https://www.tales2Inspire.com/BIO.

Stern is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As an Associate at the award winning blog, TheNewBookReviewBlogSpot, Stern serves as an outreach, helping other authors brand themselves as authors of talent.

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG:

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish the reviews of books they want to share with others; that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. NewBookReview associate Lois W. Stern is the silver circle associate in charge of review submissions and the one who keeps services offered on this blog to authors free with her AuthorsHelpingAuthors projects. Please see submission guidelines in Lois W. Stern’s silver circle icons in the right column of this blog, in a tab at the top of this blog's home page, or go directly to the submission guidelines at https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. (WARNING some cell phones cut off the right column of this blog, so try it using your desktop!) Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine (the link is also found in the right column!) handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com and #FrugalSmartTuned-InEditor.blogspot.com. Learn more about the team using our frequent hashtags: #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing and Carolyn’s website, HowToDoItFrugally https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews.

Lois W. Stern is the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest with no entrance fees, a labor of love to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. Now in its thirteenth year, Stern has published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured Tales2Inspire Gem Collection anthologies, each with a different Gemstone emblazoned on its cover, to match the theme of the stories within that particular collection. Learn more about this fascinating project, and the woman who created it, in two quick films at https://www.tales2Inspire.com/BIO.

Stern is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As an Associate at the award winning blog, TheNewBookReviewBlogSpot, Stern serves as an outreach, helping other authors brand themselves as authors of talent.

Freebies at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts

MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG MORE ABOUT #THENEWBOOKREVIEW BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish the reviews of books they want to share with others; that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. NewBookReview associate Lois W. Stern is the silver circle associate in charge of review submissions and the one who keeps services offered on this blog to authors free with her AuthorsHelpingAuthors projects. Please see submission guidelines in Lois W. Stern’s silver circle icons in the right column of this blog, in a tab at the top of this blog's home page, or go directly to the submission guidelines at https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. (WARNING some cell phones cut off the right column of this blog, so try it using your desktop!) Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine (the link is also found in the right column!) handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com and #FrugalSmartTuned-InEditor.blogspot.com. Learn more about the team using our frequent hashtags: #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing and Carolyn’s website, HowToDoItFrugally https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews.

Lois W. Stern is the creator of Tales2Inspire®, an Authors Helping Authors project/contest with no entrance fees, a labor of love to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. Now in its thirteenth year, Stern has published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured Tales2Inspire Gem Collection anthologies, each with a different Gemstone emblazoned on its cover, to match the theme of the stories within that particular collection. Learn more about this fascinating project, and the woman who created it, in two quick films at https://www.tales2Inspire.com/BIO.

Stern is a multi award winning author herself, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As an Associate at the award winning blog, TheNewBookReviewBlogSpot, Stern serves as an outreach, helping other authors brand themselves as authors of talent.

Freebies at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts