By The Book

Book Review: Darkness Calls The Tiger

Wow! That’s what I have to say about Janyre Tromp‘s newest historical novel, Darkness Calls The Tiger. This book will easily make my best of 2024 list. Besides its unique setting, the characterization is masterful. You do not want to miss this one!

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japan devours the southern portion of Burma, intent on taking over mainland Asia. Unaware of the coming darkness, Kailyn Moran drifts in her role as the only daughter of a widowed missionary.

As whispers of war snake through the Kachin mountains, Kai’s father is convinced God will protect the mission. He entrusts the village to her and the kind yet inexperienced new missionary, Ryan McDonough, while he makes routine visits to neighboring villages.

War descends like a tempest upon the mountain peaks, and an unbreakable bond forms between Kailyn and Ryan as they unite to provide solace to both villagers and the flood of refugees. Despite their tireless efforts, a brutal enemy shatters almost everything they love, pushing Kailyn to embark on a path of unrestrained vengeance.

Afraid he’s losing the woman he loves, Ryan fights to protect Kai from the deadly consequences of her choices. But in the face of destruction, can he convince her of the power and freedom of forgiveness?

Janyre Tromp is an award-winning and best-selling writer and veteran editor with a deep love for history.

Her mid-20th century historical novels always simmer with a healthy pinch of deliciously creepy suspense and include Darkness Calls the Tiger, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye, and O Little Town.

And all that editing and writing happens in her unfinished basement when she’s not hanging out with her family, two troublesome cats, and slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog.

You can find her all over social media or on her website.

And just in case you get to meet in person some day, you pronounce that first name Jan-ear.

My Impressions:

Darkness Calls The Tiger is one of those books that stays with you long after you turn the last page. This historical novel set in Burma (modern-day Myanmar) during WWII is above-the-top excellent. The setting is so very unique — the mountain villages of the Himalayan range of Burma combined with the Japanese invasion — that I was googling as I read. This is a time and place I knew nothing about, but now feel like I was there along with the characters. And what characters they are! The narrative switches between the first person POV of Kailyn Moran and the third person POV featuring Ryan McDonough. Each has trouble identifying their place and purpose in the world. Kailyn is a child of the jungle, yet is an outsider. A child of missionaries, she has one foot in Burmese culture and another in the foreign-to-her world of her American ancestry. Ryan is in Burma to honor his mother, but wonders if he will ever feel at home. And home is important for both of them. As the Japanese attempt the conquest of the country, the two take very different paths to rectify their failings and guilt. In order to avoid spoilers, I will just say that Kai and Ryan become people they feel destined to be, but is that what God really wants? Both have foundations in faith, but war, loss, and fear twists that all around.

The novel is a riveting page-turner. It portrays the ugliness, brutality, and evil of a world at war, but strongly shines a light of redemption and restoration that pierces that darkness. It is a must-read for those who love historical fiction, especially from a new perspective or for those who love a really good story.

Very Highly Recommended.

Great for Book Clubs.

Audience: Adults.

(I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are mine.)

Tags: historical fiction, Janyre Tromp, WWII

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Categories Book Reviews

Spotlight on Contemporary Romance: Loyally, Luke

15 May

Loyally, Luke JustRead Takeover Tour

Welcome to the Takeover + Review Blitz for Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About The Book

Title: Loyally, Luke
Series: Skymar #3
Author: Pepper Basham
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: May 14, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance

Sometimes love means embracing the good, the bad. . . and even the impossible.

Dear Reader —

My name is Luke Edgewood, and there are few things in life that I require. Mainly black coffee. And flannel. And lots of solitude. And my dogs, Chewy and Indie. What I don’t need is romance, so I have no plans to change my thirty-year-old bachelor status anytime soon.

But my youngest sister thinks that by accepting a short-term construction job in the small European country of Skymar, that I’m going to follow along in her footsteps and discover my own romantic adventure. Nope. Bah humbug. The End. This time, her rom-com-movie senses are totally wrong.

Or maybe not. Because I’ve met a Grace Kelly lookalike who is annoying. . . until she isn’t. But she is impossible. As in, nothing can happen between us because she is a literal princess. Even though that’s easy to forget when we’re working together to restore a castle-like orphanage in a secluded mountain town and “forced proximity” includes a small closet, a secret one-hundred-year-old journal, and the tactile memory of an off-limits royal in my arms.

Basically, the whole situation has turned into an ooey gooey magical snow globe of romantic tropes complete with cute kids and an actual ball. Now, even my sentences are starting to sound like mush. Ugh. Send high levels of testosterone my way–I’m going to need it.

Loyally, Luke

Excerpt

Luke turned to find Ms. St. Clare standing a few feet away from the doorframe where he’d been leaning. “And a genuine one?” She followed his gaze to the girls disappearing around the corner of the hall, those eyes flicking back to him with a hint of curiosity in them. “I didn’t realize you possessed one.”

Her gaze was softer today. Not quite as . . . unwelcoming. The loose curls that had escaped her bun and framed her face probably helped. It was hard to look mean with a halo of curls around someone’s face. He inwardly groaned. Halo of curls? Where on earth did that thought come from?

“I reserve smiles for friendly people.” He finagled the cookies into his coffee cup hand and tugged the papers from beneath his arm. “I emailed a copy of this estimate to Mr. Holton per his request, but here’s a paper copy I planned to leave for your review.”

She hesitated, as if caught off guard, and then took the proffered paper. “Thank you.”

He nodded, keeping to task. “I took some of the material costs from market prices, but I bet you could get a sizable discount if buying bulk. Do y’all have a contractor’s discount at some of your building supply stores? I reckon the orphanage is tax exempt.”

For the first time, Grace Kelly lost a bit of her posture. “I . . . I’m not certain about bulk purchases, but yes, the orphanage is under a special tax bracket.”

“Well, both will save you some money. The more you can save, the more the school can put back into these kids.” He took a sip of his coffee and gestured with his chin in the direction Faye and Amara had disappeared. “I’m wondering if you ought to have someone inspect the heating system too. Make sure it’s in good working order.”

“I know these types of buildings aren’t as insulated as newer structures.”

He sent her a look, but her attention was focused down the hallway. She had a delicate nose too. He pinched his eyes closed. “I’d imagine so.”

Quiet stirred greater temptation to look her way again, so he decided right then and there, he should probably leave. “The estimate has a detailed inventory of what’s wrong, so whoever you get to do the work, you at least have knowledge about what needs to be fixed so another team won’t try to take advantage of Cambric Hall.”

Her attention flashed back to him. “Are you not interested?”

His brows flew skyward. “Interested?”

“In the job,” she clarified, and he wanted to go hit his head against one of the stone walls, if for no other reason than to remove the memory.

“I figured you’d probably want to get someone else.”

One of her golden brows rose. “Because of your ogling me in the coffee shop?”

“Ogling?” He turned to face her. “I can assure you I wasn’t ogling, Ms. St. Clare. Ogling implies I had disrespectful thoughts or intentions, but that’s not the case.”

Her gaze searched his and some sort of itching feeling he couldn’t reach buzzed in his chest.

“And exactly what sorts of thoughts were you having?”

“Human ones.” Her stare held him, and his throat started to close up. Heat climbed his neck and started scorching his face. Even his beard started tingling. That stone wall was sounding better and better all the time. “You’re nice to look at. Like the view from these windows or the architecture of this building. That’s as far as my imagination went. Nothing but simple admiration.”

Silence followed again and he took such a large drink of coffee, it hurt to swallow.

“I think we may have gotten off to a poor start, Mr. Edgewood, and I’m afraid I’m to blame for that. And I’m sorry.” Her words drew his attention back toward her, those blue eyes examining his face, searching. “Would you allow me to start over?” She offered her hand, a hint of a smile on her lips. “I’m Ellie St. Clare.”

Red lights started flashing in the back of his mind at her sudden gentling. Unkind and demeaning proved an easy person to dislike and avoid.

But a woman who took responsibility for her actions and attempted to rectify them? Nope. Beam me up, Scotty! He didn’t need any reasons to like Grace Kelly, because then things like emotions started crowding in on solid good sense.

And Luke was a big fan of solid good sense and few emotional tangles.

In fact, he didn’t like any sort of tangles.

The same golden brow rose higher, waiting.

Ridiculous. Silly. He’d just treat her like anybody else he worked with. No problem.

More Books in This Series

About The Author

Pepper Basham

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC, where she is the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.

Connect with Pepper by visiting pepperdbasham.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a signed copy of the book, tool pens, and $25 Amazon gift card!

(1) additional winner will receive a signed copy of the book!

Loyally Luke JustRead Giveaway

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight May 15, 2024 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on May 22, 2024. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Tags: contemporary romance fiction, Pepper Basham

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Categories What's New, You Might Be Interested . . .

Happy Release Day! — Every Time We Say Goodbye

14 May

Happy release day to Natalie Jenner. Her highly anticipated historical novel, Every Time We Say Goodbye, is now available!! Set in Rome during the 1950s with flashbacks to WWII, this is an immersive and evocative novel. I will share my thoughts in a few days, but in the meantime read all about it below.

The bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls returns with a brilliant novel of love and art, of grief and memory, of confronting the past and facing the future.

In 1955, Vivien Lowry is facing the greatest challenge of her life. Her latest play, the only female-authored play on the London stage that season, has opened in the West End to rapturous applause from the audience. The reviewers, however, are not as impressed as the playgoers and their savage notices not only shut down the play but ruin Lowry’s last chance for a dramatic career. With her future in London not looking bright, at the suggestion of her friend, Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien takes a job in as a script doctor on a major film shooting in Rome’s Cinecitta Studios. There she finds a vibrant movie making scene filled with rising stars, acclaimed directors, and famous actors in a country that is torn between its past and its potentially bright future, between the liberation of the post-war cinema and the restrictions of the Catholic Church that permeates the very soul of Italy.

As Vivien tries to forge a new future for herself, she also must face the long-buried truth of the recent World War and the mystery of what really happened to her deceased fiancé. Every Time We Say Goodbye is a brilliant exploration of trauma and tragedy, hope and renewal, filled with dazzling characters both real and imaginary, from the incomparable author who charmed the world with her novels The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls.

NATALIE JENNER is the author of the instant international bestseller The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls. A Goodreads Choice Award runner-up for historical fiction and finalist for best debut novel, The Jane Austen Society was a USA Today and #1 national bestseller and has been sold for translation in twenty countries. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer, career coach and, most recently, an independent bookstore owner in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. Visit her website to learn more.

Tags: historical fiction, Natalie Jenner

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