Sunday, March 2, 2025

"His Grace's Governess" by Jackie Killelea

About the Book

Book: His Grace’s Governess

Author: Jackie Killelea

Genre: Christian Historic Romance

Release date: February 4, 2025

A governess with a secret. A duke with a broken heart. Can love heal their wounds?

Miss Eleanor Clairbridge, at five and twenty, has resigned herself to a life without love. With her family’s London townhouse threatened by dwindling finances, she accepts employment as a governess to help support her widowed mother and preserve her cherished childhood home. When Eleanor arrives at Ivy Grange Estate, the last thing she expects to find is a spark of attraction between her and her new employer. Determined not to risk her position, she resolves to keeps her distance. There is more than one reason a romance between them can never be.

Edmund Colhampton, the Duke of Albemarle, has no intention of finding love. Since losing his family in a tragic carriage accident five years ago, he has devoted himself to protecting his young niece, the only family he has left. But when his niece’s enchanting governess arrives at the estate, Edmund finds himself reconsidering his vow never to love again. Why then, as he seeks to know her more, does she seem determined to avoid him at all costs?

As Eleanor fulfills her role as governess, her past begins to catch up with her, threatening to unravel the secrets she holds dear. Both Eleanor and Edmund must confront their deepest fears and decide whether to succumb to the darkness within or brave the path to healing and love.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts

I enjoyed reading this book. It drew my attention and I wanted to keep reading. I liked Edmund and Eleanor and watching them interact. I think they felt realistic and relatable. There was a nice biblical faith thread which I was glad for. I look forward to reading more books by Jackie Killelea.

About the Author

Jackie Killelea is a born and raised small-town girl from Connecticut with a degree in English and Creative Writing. She started off her writing journey with poetry, soon shifting into novels and becoming hooked. On days when she’s not busy with her nose in a book, she can be found typing away with a cup of tea at her side.

More from Jackie

In His Grace’s Governess, much trouble befalls Edmund and Eleanor as they attempt to sort out their close proximity to and burgeoning feelings for one another, but there is one scene in particular that I enjoyed researching.

In one scene of the novel, Mr. Roskilly(the gardener at Ivy Grange Estate) worries at Eleanor plucking the plant Rabelera–otherwise known as Greater Stitchwort–from the ground. He fears that danger will befall Eleanor if she takes it from the garden and Eleanor, misunderstanding him, even believes at one point that Mr. Roskilly might be threatening her. But, why is Mr. Roskilly so worried? Is he really so concerned that Edmund’s hackles will be raised when he sees that Eleanor has plucked a few mere flowers from the garden–and with his niece, no less?

Indeed, that is not where his concern lies, for if you read the passage closely, you’ll see that Mr. Roskilly is Cornish. This is an important factor. When doing my research for the novel, I found that, in Cornwall, it is believed that Greater Stitchwort is the property of the pixies. It is believed that to pick it is to take it from them and to anger them, and if you anger them then there is all the chance that they may well retaliate for you having stolen what was theirs. Truly, they may even enchant you, according to legend. Having read this and being sufficiently intrigued, the scene was born! I do hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I do.

Here is an excerpt from it so you know what I’m referring to:

“Hope yer walk’s went well. ’Tis a fine day fer one.” He grinned, revealing a mouth full of crooked teeth. His Cornish accent was thick, with a friendly tone to his voice.

Eleanor returned his smile and nodded. “It certainly is. What better way to spend a morning than to enjoy the sun in these beautiful gardens? They’re the finest I’ve ever seen.”

She could’ve sworn there was a hint of a blush on the man’s tawny face. “I than’ ye, miss. We do our righ’ bes’, and keepin’ i’ as i’ is makes ’is Grace ’appy. Ever since…” The man trailed off, a growing look of concern on his face.

What had he been about to say? Something about the duke or his family?

“Greater Stitchwort.” He spoke with a grave edge to his words, looking intently at the flower in Rose’s hand.

Eleanor’s gaze flitted from the man to the flower, her brows furrowing. “Is something wrong, sir?”

The man tilted his head, flicking his eyes to the side in a plea for a private conversation.

I will not say whether this decision to pick the plant affected Eleanor later on in the story or not, but I’ll leave you with this: Do consider all of the plants you touch before you decide to place your hand upon them and pull them from the ground.

Happy reading!

Jackie Killelea

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 18

Holly’s Book Corner, February 19

Texas Book-aholic, February 19

Life on Chickadee Lane, February 20

Pens Pages & Pulses, February 20

Locks, Hooks and Books, February 21

Stories By Gina, February 22 (Author Interview)

Devoted To Hope, February 22

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 23

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 24

Connie’s History Classroom, February 25

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, February 25

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, February 26

Simple Harvest Reads, February 27 (Guest Review from Donna)

For Him and My Family, February 28

Pause for Tales, February 28

Book Looks by Lisa, March 1

Blossoms and Blessings, March 2

Cover Lover Book Review, March 3

Little Homeschool on the Prairie, March 3

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jackie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54157

"The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine" by Lindsay A. Franklin -- Author Interview

About the Book

Book: The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine

Author: Lindsay A. Franklin

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release date: February 4, 2025

A shattered heart, a fate foretold.

The world undone by tales of old.

Emlyn DuLaine just wants to know what happened to her sister, Camille, seven years ago on the fateful day she vanished—literally. Emlyn witnessed Camille unravel and disappear, but no one believes her. Since they think she’s crazy, the least the cops could do is solve Camille’s case. Is a little closure too much to ask?

But Emlyn’s life is upended when she is pulled through a portal into the fantasyland of her childhood imaginings—a magical library holding the storyworlds of every story ever published. And trouble is brewing in the land of Rivenlea. Rogue characters threaten their plot lines, and broken classics are beginning to crumble, but Emlyn only wants to find Camille.

As she searches for her sister, Emlyn begins to learn the reality of Rivenlea and her own origins. A nefarious plot is afoot, and the line between fact and fiction is becoming hopelessly blurred. The truth threatens the storyworlds, Rivenlea, and Earth—the fabric of creation, itself.

Click here to get your copy!

Author Interview

1. Do you consider yourself a plotter or a pantser (or a hybrid)?
I prefer the term “puzzler.” Stories come to me out of order, but I usually use an extensive
outline before I begin any drafting, which makes people believe I’m a plotter, and that’s sort of
true. But the process of putting that outline together feels like putting a puzzle together, so
there’s some plotting, some pantsing, some plantsing, and sometimes a bit of wailing, but it
usually results in a completed novel at some point!

2. What is your favorite part about writing?
If I have a really clean, tight outline in hand, then I love drafting. Coming up with dialogue on the
fly, inserting jokes I hope will make readers giggle, trying to come up with a perfect chapter
opener and a final chapter line that will make readers gasp and turn the page—all those fun
things that aren’t captured on my outline delight me.

3. What is your least favorite part about writing?
Having to crank out words on deadline is tough. It’s part of being a professional writer, so I’m not
complaining. I feel blessed to have contracts and deadlines. But it’s hard to sit down and do it
when I’m not feeling terribly inspired and I would rather wait for the muse.

4. How long does it usually take you to write a book?
This varies pretty widely. I have written almost an entire novel in a month (The Story Raider—I
just about lost my mind by the end of that!). But I decided to take about two years to
conceptualize, outline, and draft The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine to recover from a little
creative burnout and rediscover my joy in storytelling again. Usually my sweet spot is 4-5
months.

5. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
Everywhere! Idea seeds pop out from strange places (a daydream, a phrase an editor said
once, a reel about bees, a random musing about whether or not my husband and I would have
been friends if we grew up next door to each other). But once I have an idea seed, lots of
different things influence the story sprouting from that seed. I may have something to say about
the state of the world, or I might be working through some personal heartache I want to explore
on the page. I have written my friends into my books, and I write my husband into every story I
tell. Everything is inspiration.

About the Author

Lindsay A. Franklin is the Carol Award–winning author of The Story Peddler, ECPA best-selling author of Adored, and Managing Editor of Enclave Publishing. She would wear pajama pants all the

time if it were socially acceptable. Lindsay lives happily among therain and evergreens of the Pacific Northwest with her scruffy- looking nerf-herder husband, their three (nearly) grown geeklings, and three demanding thunder pillows (a.k.a. cats).

More from Lindsay

“It’s always been broken.”

Those were the words God put on my heart when I cried out to him in 2020 as I tried to plot The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine. My cry and the fact that I was plotting a novel were not exactly connected at first–though outlining does usually result in some weeping and gnashing of teeth for me. But I released my last novel in 2020 and happened to be working on my new series, The Rivenlea Sphere, when the world was suddenly thrown into chaos.

Being creative in the midst of a global pandemic and significant social unrest is not easy. In fact, I found it impossible. I stared at my unfinished outline, asking myself and God, “Why is everything so messed up? Why is this world so broken?” I know the theological answer to that question, but sometimes, the soul aches. Sometimes, it feels like the whole world is falling apart in a way it never has before.

When God reminded me that this world has, since the fall of man, always been broken, he also reminded me that he’s always been in the business of rescuing us, giving us hope, and pointing us toward a better future–one that is complete and holy. One that is fully redeemed.

Over the next two years, an underlying brokenness that begs for solution wove itself into my storyworld. The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine is intentionally whimsical and fun, filled with references to beloved classics and packed with wry humor. There’s a magical library, a sassy dragon, a fish-out-of-water protagonist determined to dodge every YA trope being thrown her way. But underneath it all is the idea that this world isn’t what it was originally designed to be–and there is hope on the horizon.