I WANT TO THANK MY READERS WHO ARE POSTING REVIEWS OF THE FORTUNE BAY BOOKS.

IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME – AND IT’S WORKING! 

Reviews are what make the wheels of online retailers turn. (That’s Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, Kobo and the iTunes store.)

I was THRILLED a few days ago when a friend sent me this Amazon promotion she received in her inbox. The first three books on the list were my first three Fortune Bay books! (The Good Neighbor was there too when you scrolled down.)

A real red letter day to me and I owe it all to you!

I harp on the importance of reviews to my readers, reminding them it doesn’t have to be a long review. A few words is enough.

Strangely, though, I notice that Amazon calls my one 3 star review (all the rest are 4 & 5 star) a “negative” review, although the reviewer has nothing but good things to say about the book?!? Bearing that in mind, I only post reviews on books to which I would give 4 or 5 stars.

Occasionally I give Advanced Readers Copies to readers, hoping for a good review to get things rolling on launch day. It’s a common practice in the publishing world.

Amazon’s policy on reviews for ARCs is that “Book authors and publishers may continue to provide free or discounted copies of their books to readers, as long as the author or publisher does not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review.” (From Amazon’s Guidelines for Reviews)  The other online retailers follow similar guidelines.

To post an Amazon review,  “you must have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a valid credit or debit card.” For most of us, that’s a given. LOL

To review any of the Fortune Bay books, just click on the covers in the sidebar,go to the retailer of your choice and post. It’s easy. On the book’s home page, scroll down to the reviews section, or just click on the “customer reviews” link under the title.

Today I am following my own advice and posting a review  on Amazon. (You don’t need to say this much. Just write what you’d tell a friend about the book.)

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay, by Kelly Harms

I discovered this book on my kindle as a sample and was so glad I did. It didn’t begin like a romance and it took me a while to decide that’s what it was, but I like it all the better for not being formulaic in its approach.

In the short prologue set ten years earlier than the rest of the book, we quickly discover that Lily is a painter, just finishing art school. In the story, Harms deftly weaves the story back and forth between the present and the events of that earlier period of Lily and her friend Renee’s life. Although they are still friends, they are living very different lives now: Renee as a lawyer, married with children, and Lily as a single struggling artist, still in the apartment  in Chicago where she moved right after art school.

Suddenly Lily’s life hits rock bottom. Evicted from her apartment, she turns to Renee and her  boyfriend/art dealer only to discover neither of them will help. She’s been ignoring her responsibilities in life for years, and it is all coming back to bite her. Discovering that she might still be married to a man she met briefly on an  ill-fated trip to Vegas 10 years ago is the last straw, and sends her out in the dead of winter to the picturesque but almost Brigadoon-like village of Minnow Bay in the North Woods.

I loved this book and will definitely be looking up Kelly Harms’ other book, The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane.

 

Thanks for reading small town romance. Don’t forget to review the books you love.