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

A 5 STAR REVIEW FOR DETOUR TRAIL - ANOTHER JOY V. SMITH WINNER

BOOK TITLE: Detour Trail

AUTHOR OF BOOK: Joy V. Smith

GENRE: Historical Western

ISBN: 978-1-61235-570-2

SERIES: (If relevant.)

PAGE COUNT: 136

AMAZON LINK to BUY BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Detour-Trail-Joy-V-Smith/dp/1612355706/

 

THE REVIEW ITSELF: 

*Detour Trail* by Joy V. Smith is highly recommended by Midwest Book Review as a captivating Western novel featuring a strong female protagonist, Lorena Emerson, navigating the perilous Oregon Trail. The story follows her journey through challenges after her uncle's murder, showcasing themes of resilience, teamwork, and empowerment. 

 

By Midwest Book Review

Review of ASTROLOGY IN THE ERA OF UNCERTAINTY BY JOE LANDWEHR

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: ASTROLOGY IN THE ERA OF UNCERTAINTY

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: JOE LANDWEHR

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS joelandwehr@socket.net 

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://www.joelandwehr.com/astrologyintheeraofuncertainty

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 _x_ Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Armand Diaz, review originally published in the NCGR Memberletter, Spring 2024

INCLUDE THE THE REVIEW ITSELF, of course!

In a kind of symmetry, Joe Landwehr wishes more people would pay attention to astrology, and I wish more astrologers would pay attention to Joe Landwehr. He’s among the most original and grounded astrologers writing today, and his work has a tremendous benefit to offer the thinking astrologer: his work is always thought-provoking. Astrology in the Era of Uncertainty is his latest book, and perhaps his most accessible work.

Reading the title, I thought that I might be in for a book about mundane astrology and how to handle the aftermath of the last decade’s Uranus-Pluto square or other celestial signposts. What I found instead was a reorientation of astrology within the already-accepted ‘era of uncertainty’, an era that extends in both directions well beyond any current transits.

In the first chapters, the author takes up the question of astrology’s relationship to the dominant paradigm in Western culture, scientific materialism. This is a topic that has been frequently addressed by many astrologers— myself included—and Landwehr does an excellent job of showing both why the materialist paradigm is limited and why astrology doesn’t fit in as a science (and should stop trying to do so). 

Thinking that particular argument had been dispatched, I found to my surprise that Astrology in the Era of Uncertainty goes on to deconstruct not only scientific materialism, but the gushier side of the New Age, as well as traditional religion (to some extent). Landwehr has little tolerance for sloppy thinking, whether it comes from the rationalist or non-rationalist, and he doesn’t mind taking aim at astrologers who slide around in the mud of overgeneralizations and simplistic arguments.

The book presents a history of current thought; that is, how we got where we are, both astrologically and in the dominant paradigm. Landwehr follows the New Age back to its origins, and he traces astrology forward into Psychological Astrology and its more modern forms. While recognizing the value of the various twists, turns, and innovations, he also takes out the razor of discrimination to point out where things veer off course.

Although the material is philosophical and historic, Landwehr’s writing is clear and concise, and this makes the book very accessible and a pleasure to read. I read, reread, put it down, and took it up again many times, and presumethis is the way many of us will read it—taking time to think is part of the process.

Later in the book, the author presents an example of the astropoetic approach via an empirical exploration of decades of Vesta transits in his personal chart (actually, Vesta returns rather than transits). This more intimate approach works well to show us how astrological understanding develops as a blend of accepted knowledge with personal experience (although he never really stops addressing historical material).

Rather than resting on rigid principles in a mock-scientific formula, we are encouraged to move around freely within the parameters described by our art. This section of the book is sure to appeal to many astrologers, and it serves as a balance to the more philosophical material. Indeed, Landwehr talks about the balance between yin and yang approaches, or the hermeneutics of faith and suspicion.

It is a common endeavor among astrologers to try to situate astrology within the contemporary world, a world which is—as Landwehr points out—simultaneously hostile to astrology and fascinated by it, depending on what sector of society you fathom on the issue. Generally, I have found that authors on the subject wish to convince the greater world of astrology’s value, or at least generate a group effort to step outside of the dominant paradigm together. There’s often a tightness in these arguments, a plea of “don’t leave me hanging out here by myself.” By contrast, Joe Landwehr offers his insights with an open hand. Once you read Astrology in the Age of Uncertainty, you’ll understand far more about how astrology works, how it fits into contemporary culture, and how you can use it for your personal development as well as for your clients. It would make great summer reading for any and all astrologers, with endless opportunities to chew on the ideas presented.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Armand Diaz is a professional astrologer and a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops.  He is currently the president of the National Council for Geocosmic Research.  You can read more about his work at armanddiaz.com. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED:  Joe Landwehr is an astrologer of 50+ years experience, seeking an eclectic integration of astrology, spiritual psychology and ancient wisdom teachings. He is the author of five books and numerous articles for The Mountain Astrologer and other publications. He is Director of The Astropoetic School of Soul-Discovery, which offers individualized correspondence courses, webinar classes and workshops built around the correlation of astrological cycles with actual life experience. He has taught and lectured at ISAR conferences, the Midwest Astrology Conference, and online at International Academy of Astrology. More information about his work can be found at joelandwehr.com.

Review of The Heiress in Kent by Gregory Kopp

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: The Heiress in Kent

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Gregory Kopp

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS  greg.kopp@kopp-company.com

 

 

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS:

 

Website: https://www.kopp-company.com/publishing.html

Amazon Profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gregory-Kopp/author/B01LVWZJD7

 

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 _X_ Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 

 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Doanné Deventer for Readers’ Favorite 

 

INCLUDE THE THE REVIEW ITSELF, of course! Gregory Kopp's novel The Heiress in Kent takes place in 19th-century London and New York. Sir Richard Mayne and Her Majesty the Queen ordered Scotland Yard detective Richard Cordwell to investigate urgent matters regarding the British throne's financial investments in the American railroads. During a global financial crisis, Cordwell embarks on his journey to uncover the truth and meets new and interesting people along the way. The handsome detective is entrusted with a secret mission from the queen herself that keeps him on his toes. While traveling to different towns to investigate the financial fraud that could negatively impact Britain's economy, he finds himself in challenging situations to complete this secret mission. The burning question on everyone's mind is, who exactly is The Heiress in Kent?

The Heiress in Kent, a historical mystery novel by Gregory Kopp, is a delightful and easy-to-read book. Kopp skillfully introduces several characters in the plot, including two based on his great-grandparents. He has portrayed the era and two different countries remarkably well and has also conveyed the challenging times faced by the characters to the reader in a touching manner. The financial difficulties that the characters experience are relatable to our current economic situation. Kopp has conducted extensive research on the eras and history of both Britain and America, which is evident from the detailed annexures containing references to some of the characters and other relevant information. The book is fast-paced, and not overly complicated. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey it took me on.

REVIEWED BY: Doanné Deventer for Readers’ Favorite

Review Rating: 4 Stars

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: Gregory Kopp is an Amazon and Goodreads 5-Star Author, Graduate of Northwestern University and a Principal Consultant for Kopp Company, a privately held firm. Gregory is also a Talent Ambassador for The Walt Disney Company. The Amazon and Goodreads 5-Star acclaimed Kopp Chronicles series of novels have been nominated for Reader's Choice Awards, Goodreads Choice Awards and have received glowing reviews and been featured in “First Lines” of "BookLife Publishers Weekly" (,https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-981089-24-6)  an international news website of book publishing nd bookselling and by Readers’ Favorite respected by renowned publishers such asRandom House, Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins. They have also received numerous "Cover of the Month" & "Book of the Day" Honors.  

Boost Book Sales with a BOGO Offer (Buy One, Get One Free)

Hi there fellow authors,

It's Lois W. Stern here, your NewBookReview BlogSpot Affiliate, sharing another helpful tip to help you market your books. 

This is a great way to grow book sales and brand book awareness when on a small budget. The supermarkets do this all the time: BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free), and you can use this same idea to boost your book sales.

Try bundling a couple of your titles into a 2 for 1 offer, where you sell one book at its list price and a second title at a substantial discount. Then send your offer out to your list, post it on your social media pages, add it to your newsletter, and promote it in any other creative places you can think of. 

Your offer might look like this: “Buy . . .  (1st book title) at (add list price) and get . . . (2nd book title) at $....)  And if you are have a supply on hand and are shipping rom home, be sure to use USA MEDIA RATE. Then, include a friendly message with your books, thanking them for their interest and telling them you hope they enjoy your book. This will cost you only a couple of dollars, but you can get barrels full of free PR in return.

Here are a few ways to benefit from your investment. 

But just be sure to ask permission first. Remember, courtesy builds trust.

• Add their name to your newsletter list.
• Ask them if they could write a testimonial about one of your books. Then use that testimonial to further spread the word about your book.
• Post a thank you to them for purchasing your books on your social media pages, while adding a picture of your book cover. 
• If they give you a great testimonial, ask them if they would expand it into a review, to post on any of the creditable online book review sites, and send you the link once that review is posted.
• Submit their review to The New Book Review blog spot, following the format provided at: https://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2023/05/send-us-your-fave-book-review.html .

If you think it’s worth a small investment to get the word out about your books, 

how about giving BOGO a try?