Day 4 of my Virtual Book Review Tour

goose

In this excerpt from Woman of Substance Ruth used a scene where Robbie disguised as Robin meets Frank for the fist time:
“As the geese began to paddle to the shore, she said, “The geese trust you.”

He teased the bread into crumbs with bony fingers. “These here birds know me. I like to be outside. I live over there.” He turned toward a seniors’ care home, where she’d often seen men and women sitting on benches and in wheelchairs around the front door.”

The geese are important to Frank and a touchstone for Robbie. Later in the story Jake asks Robbie if she suggested that Frank was a goose whisperer.

On a body of water on the Saskatchewan prairie you will see geese.

Today I am over at Devotional Thoughts http://www.mydevotionalthoughts.com/2013/02/goddess-fish-woman-of-substance-by.html

[Ruth’s] My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“First of all, this book is to be appreciated since there is no profanity nor sex scenes. That alone makes me want to recommend this book fairly highly. When I take into the account the clever story line, I hold this book in even higher esteem. This is a book that is targeted at adults aged 25-40, but it would be suitable for young adults as well if the topic interests them.” . . .

However later she does say that “As clever as I found the story, I felt like I wanted more. I felt like I didn’t know any of the characters very well. Robbie shared the most, and Jake did to an extent as well. But the supporting cast left a lot of unanswered questions. I felt that I couldn’t truly connect with the characters since I felt that their background was not too detailed.”

I appreciate Ruth’s thoughts which she shared with readers. Each reviewer has expectations for a story and by passing on their assessment they assist readers’ choices.

Drop on over to Ruth’s blog, besides reviewing books she has many give- aways.

Photo provided by Horton Group, http://www.HortonGroup.com through Stock.xchng photo http://www.sxc.hu/

Day 3 of the Virtual Book Review Tour for Woman of Substance

Today Woman of Substance is reviewed by Andrea Coventry over at Uplifting Reads: http://upliftingreads.blogspot.ca/2013/02/woman-of-substance-by-annette-bower.html

Andrea **My thoughts**

“Being a larger woman, I found myself relating to Robin a bit more than Robbie. I have heard all of the same things, only much more brutally than Robin ever has to experience. I also related to Jake’s struggle in saying goodbye to his grandfather, having recently lost both my grandmother and my father. This story became much more personal to me than I had thought it would when I signed up for the tour.”

I appreciate Andrea sharing her experiences as a larger woman and also the loss of important members of her family.

When I wrote Woman of Substance I wanted to explore loss. Loss comes in so many ways and even the loss of preconceived ideas are beliefs that may be hard to relinquish and in that letting go we grieve.

But the loss of someone important in our lives is another concept all together. The immediate time of the loss is followed by the business of the details, followed by the knowledge that memory of love, and the impacts that have been made on our lives,

Holding hands through the generations

Holding hands through the generations

are everything that we can take forward.

Stop by Uplifting Reads and if you don’t want to share a comment, take a moment and read the other comments and my answers. Perhaps you too will be nudged into joining Robbie/Robin, Jake and Frank on their journey.

image courtesy of pixelstar on stock.xchng http://bestsellerlabs.com/7-free-photo-libraries/