Chelsea Falin Reviews Karen A. Wyle's Second in Cowbird Series

--Title: What Frees the Heart 

--Series: Second in Cowbird Creek

--Author: Karen A. Wyle

--Author's website: Karen A. Wyle Author Website 

--Genre/category: Western historical romance

--ISBN: 978-0-9980604-7-7

--Publisher: Oblique Angles Press

--Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BKDDVDP/

Reviewed by Chelsea Falin, originally for Goodreads and Pen Possessed 

Five Star on Goodreads

THE REVIEW

I was so excited for this book to come out. I read and fell in love with “What Heals the Heart” and was excited for another Cowbird Creek title to come out. Wyle did NOT disappoint. This story may have been even more gripping than the first, and I absolutely loved to see yet another “not so

common” romance bloom.

One of the things I love best about this book is that it takes two flawed people and puts them together. Anyone who has read my reviews knows I love flawed characters because it creates a more realistic story for me. Perfect heroes and heroines are so hard to relate to. But I also love the combination of old fashioned and female empowerment Wyle uses in her stories. The females aren’t helpless, but they do need help. They can do much of everything on their own, but the few things they can’t, the hero can – while the heroine can do what he can’t. It’s less a damsel in distress and more a real union of meeting the other’s needs.

I highly recommend this title to anyone who wants a realistic yet swoon-worthy romance that will leave you begging for more. I also recommend it to anyone who enjoys westerns, historicals, or mostly clean romance.

The cover is engaging and offers an accurate depiction of what readers should expect inside the story.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but moved every few years throughout her childhood and adolescence.  After college in California, law school in Massachusetts, and a mercifully short stint in a large San Francisco law firm, she moved to Los Angeles, where she met her now-husband, who hates L.A.  They eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. They have two wildly creative daughters.

Wyle's voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction.  It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice.  Whether writing science fiction, afterlife fantasy, or historical romance, she tends to focus on the often-intertwined themes of individual identity, liberty, family, communication, unintended consequences, and the persistence of unfinished business. She has also published one nonfiction book, a resource for authors, law students, or anyone else interested in understanding more about American law.

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ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Chelsea Falin is a multi-genre author of 35+ books, including The Growing Roots Series, Taming the Dragon Clan Chronicles, and Think You Know Your States? series. Learn more about her at https://cfalinhammond.wordpress.com/

MORE ABOUT BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. 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. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

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Appellate Attorney Pens Western Romance, Earns Five Stars

Title: What Heals the Heart

Author: Karen A. Wyle

Author website: http://www.KarenAWyle.com

Genre: historical romance [whether it's Western historical romance depends on people's definition, given the absence of ranches, cattle drives, gunfights, and outlaws, and only a passing reference to cowboys]

ISBN:  978-0998060453 (10-digit version  0998060453) 

ASIN B07VH1Q6C6

Reviewer's rating: five stars

Purchase at Amazon 

Reviewed by Kathryn Blade originally for Amazon

I received a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

What Heals the Heart by Karen A. Wyle is a romance in the years following the Civil War in America. Joshua Gibbs moved to the town of Cowbird Creek after the war. He serves as physician to the residents in the area. He meets Clara Brook. Their attraction is immediate.

Ms. Wyle’s understanding of the time period described in the book is impressive. The world of Cowbird Creek is interesting and well developed. Characters are interesting and develop over time. There are plot twists that keep the reader interested. The love story that develops is endearing and timeless. Another strong point is Ms. Wyle’s style of writing. Reading What Heals the Heart is easy as the writing flows in a relaxed, almost conversational style. My world felt right while reading this book, as if I’d found an old friend and sat for a while to drink coffee and chat about life or love.

I give What Heals the Heart five out of five stars. It is one of the best modern historical romances I have read in recent years. Fans of historical romances will enjoy this book.

Ms. Wyle, if you’re out there reading this, just know I’m a huge fan now.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Kathryn Blade is an indie author and book reviewer. She writes book reviews, poetry, and light romance.  She says, "Check out the recent cool things I've been up to: 

Tons of book reviews posted on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub. 

My interview on the NF Reads website. 

My guest blog post on author Matt Brown's blog. 

​Ebooks of my first works are available on Amazon. 

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9.

Wyle is an appellate attorney, photographer, political junkie, and mother of two daughters. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. 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. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too.

Reviewer's Take: Karen A. Wyle's Romance Heals Hearts

What Heals the Heart 

(Cowbird Creek 1)

Author, Karen A. Wyle http://www.KarenAWyle.com

Genre: historical romance

Oblique Angle Press

ISBN: 978-0998060453 

ASIN: B07VH1Q6C6

Whitney Simonsen, Honestly Austen, https://honestlyausten.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/what-heals-the-heart-review

Oblique Angles Press

Reviewer rating = five stars plus two exclamation points

Purchase on Amazon 

Reviewed by Whitney Simonson originally for Honestly Austen and Goodreads

Synopsis:

Joshua Gibbs survived the Civil War, building on his wartime experiences to become a small 
 . And if he wakes from nightmares more often than he would like, only his dog Major is there to know it.

Then two newcomers arrive in Cowbird Creek: Clara Brook, a plain-speaking and yet enigmatic farmer’s daughter, and Freida Blum, an elderly Jewish widow from New York. Freida knows just what Joshua needs: a bride. But it shouldn’t be Clara Brook!

Joshua tries everything he can think of to discourage Freida’s efforts, including a wager: if he can find Freida a husband, she’ll stop trying to find him a wife. Will either matchmaker succeed? Or is it Clara, a woman with her own scars, who can heal the doctor’s troubled heart?

My Favourite Quotes:

"But from time to time she turned to him as if studying him. He let her scrutinize him. Maybe she would discover something about him that he needed to know.”

“‘Who would want an old lady like me?’ Joshua put down his fork and leaned forward o his elbows. ‘Anyone who wants a woman with experience, a woman who knows something about life, who’s also a good cook, and smart, and funny, and has a heart as big as the prairie.'”

“Robert’s grin grew even wider. ‘Matchmaking in self-defense! I like it.'”

“But instead, he found himself looking for a letter he’d gotten from his mother the week before, and reading it over, and kissing her signature.”

“A long pause. ‘The family was told he had died in battle. And I the only one to know, to understand, what that means. The others imagine something swift – a bullet extinguishing him in an instant. They never saw, or heard, or – or smelled the things that let me imagine what he likely endured. And that is just part of what makes me feel like… some different kind of creature, pretending to be like them, to be one of them. To be the daughter and sister I used to be. Someone I scarcely remember being.'”

My Thoughts:

I am back, literary lovelies, with my first book review in quite some time. AND I have to tell you I am so glad this was the book to start me off reviewing once again.

Having battled with being triggered by my previous read for my book club I found myself in a reading drought. I could not focus on anything and felt genuinely disheartened until I received an email asking me for a book review.

A quote from one of my all-time favourite novels, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, helps illustrate my next point, “Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”

I believe that secret homing instinct was at work bringing What Heals the Heart by Karen A. Wyle to me as I needed to be rescued in more than just the literary sense. I could never say my personal mental health struggles would completely align with the main character of What Heals the Heart but through the actions and friendships of this novel, I found it healing my own heart in a very real way. (And yes I am very aware of my intended pun – or whatever we are wanting to call it!)

It is essential for mental health to become a more common discourse in our lives and novels can be a fundamental tool in doing so. What Heals the Heart brilliantly connects the reader to the characters reliving collective trauma and illustrates how profound support and understanding can be in finding forms of healing.

I am often drawn to books that discuss aspects of mental health as they often help to heal me as oppose to trigger me. I was touched by Wyle’s way of illustrating with due care and attention the post-traumatic experiences of more than one character within this novel. She was able to bring a perfect amount of lightness (small town matchmaking and quirky friendships) to balance a tough subject.

The friendships in this novel were phenomenal and I loved every single one of them. Wyle is able to create characters who I wanted to befriend. Who I felt came to life for me as a reader. Characters I fought for, cheered for, loved, and in all honesty, cried for and with.

I felt like I held my breath the whole time I was writing that!

But before I leave you, I must do some review-wise housekeeping. Ready?

How long is too long of a quote to have in my ‘My Favourite Quotes’ section, dear readers? I only ask because the last quote I wrote in the above section was quite a bit longer. I have gone back and forth over whether or not I should include it in its entirety or just implore you to go and read this novel especially the rest of this moment between Clara Brooks and Dr. Joshua Gibbs in Chapter 23! It stands out as one of my favourite moments (of many) in the book. [Bloggers Note: Please feel free to answer Whitney in the comments section of this blog.]

I heart What Heals the Heart this much:  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ !!

*** Copy received from the author in exchange for an honest review ***

More About the Author 

Learn more about Karen A. Wyle from:

Her website: karenawyle.com

Facebook: @KarenAWyle

Twitter: @KarenAWyle 

or on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Karen-A-Wyle/e/B005WK7D26/

About the Reviewer

Learn more at https://honestlyausten.wordpress.com/about/

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. 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. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too.

Sheila Deeth Finds Karen Wyle's Science Fiction Relatable

Title: Water to Water

Genre: science fiction

ISBN: for non-Amazon ebook, 978-0-9980604-4-6; for paperback, 978-0-9980604-3-9

ASIN is B07HM67TSW

Publisher: Oblique Angles Press

Reviewer's rating on Goodreads: 5 stars

Purchase links:

Amazon (global, Kindle): http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B07HM67TSW

Amazon (paperback, global): http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=0998060437

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Karen_A_Wyle_Water_to_Water?id=n_ZwDwAAQBAJ

--Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/water-to-water/id1437153759

--Nook Store: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/water-to-water-karen-a-wyle/1129616288

--Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/water-to-water

Reviewed by Sheila Deeth originally for Goodreads

THE REVIEW

Karen Wyle’s alien life-forms in Water to Water are immediately and vividly real, convincingly non-human with evocatively different emotional needs, and yet profoundly relatable. A world with two different species and one haunting funeral tradition slowly expands as a young adult strives to move on from losing a parent. But losses come in many forms, and simply moving away from a parent might prove similarly difficult. Moving away from a faith could be even harder.

Honnu’s family secret, Terril’s loss, and the curiosity of an alien of different species combine in this haunting tale. The dialog carries convincing depth and humor, like two teens shying away from deeper truths. And the mystery is so completely involving that the reader switches from guess to guess, all the way to the end and beyond. (Yes, I’m still guessing at parts not told!)

Questions of faith, life after death, the threat of new revelation on old traditions,all this and more—deep topics for a tale that’s filled with action, heart and soul. Author Karen Wyle has imagined a world with self-consistent science and social science, and peopled it with youthful characters whose heroes' journey will surely carry readers far beyond the pages. A masterpiece!

Disclosure: I was given a copy and I love it!

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Learn more about Karen Wyle at http://www.KarenAWyle.com, https://www.facebook.com/KarenAWyle, and https://twitter.com/KarenAWyle

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. 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. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.