Julie's Review: The Crows of Beara

Author: Julie Christine Johnson
Series: None
Publication Date: September 1, 2017
Publisher: Ashland Creek Press
Pages: 402
Obtained: Author
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A wonderful story of losing yourself and then finding yourself again
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Summary: When Annie Crowe travels from Seattle to a small Irish village to promote a new copper mine, her public relations career is hanging in the balance. Struggling to overcome her troubled past and a failing marriage, Annie is eager for a chance to rebuild her life. Yet when she arrives on the remote Beara Peninsula, Annie learns that the mine would encroach on the nesting ground of an endangered bird, the Red-billed Chough, and many in the community are fiercely protective of this wild place. Among them is Daniel Savage, a local artist battling demons of his own, who has been recruited to help block the mine. Despite their differences, Annie and Daniel find themselves drawn toward each other, and, inexplicably, they begin to hear the same voice--a strange, distant whisper of Gaelic, like sorrow blowing in the wind. Guided by ancient mythology and challenged by modern problems, Annie must confront the half-truths she has been sent to spread and the lies she has been telling herself. Most of all, she must open her heart to the healing power of this rugged land and its people. Beautifully crafted with environmental themes, a lyrical Irish setting, and a touch of magical realism, The Crows of Beara is a breathtaking novel of how the nature of place encompasses everything that we are. ~amazon.com  

Review: The Crows of Beara is about losing yourself, becoming some one you don't recognize, to gaining back the control in your life. Annie is at the end of her rope with her marriage and her job. Her life has been derailed for some time and this trip to Ireland for work is her way of trying to get back on track. Annie has been lost for so long that she's not sure where to start and how to start.

Her mission while in Ireland is to convince the locals that the jobs the mine would bring out weighs the cost to the environment around them. She partners with the CEO of the mine to outline what their agenda and strategy is going forward. Except there's something a bit unsettling about how James feels completely comfortable with her right from the beginning.

As she's hiking along the Beara Peninsula, she feels drawn to the land and to what it is trying to say to her. The longer she's there the more time she spends on it, the more she feels the pull of it. She knows this job could end her career but she's not so sure any more that its a bad thing.

Annie is a character that you cheer for, that you want her to find her way. You know she's going to stumble but can she recover from that bump in the road.  You want her to forgive herself for her past mistakes and move on from them. Self-loathing will get her no where.

What I love about Ms. Johnson's writing is that she adds a mystical bend to the plot that adds mystery and intrigue into it. In this case it's the legend of the Old Hag of Beara and the song that sings to both Annie and Danny. It is about how a place can heal you and help you find who you are meant to be. Home isn't always a place but a feeling and often the people you surround yourself with as well.

If you love books about finding yourself and how sometimes you need to have setbacks to put you on the right path, then pick up The Crows of Beara.


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Julie's Review: In Another Life

Author: Julie Christine Johnson
Series: None
Publication Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Pages: 368
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Historical Fiction, Paranormal
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Captivating
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Summary: Historian Lia Carrer has finally returned to southern France, determined to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. But instead of finding solace in the region's quiet hills and medieval ruins, she falls in love with Raoul, a man whose very existence challenges everything she knows about life--and about her husband's death. As Raoul reveals the story of his past to Lia, she becomes entangled in the echoes of an ancient murder, resulting in a haunting and suspenseful journey that reminds Lia that the dead may not be as far from us as we think. Steeped in the rich history and romantic landscape of the Languedoc region, In Another Life is a story of love that conquers time and the lost loves that haunt us all. ~amazon.com  

Review: In Another Life is an amazing book. It is flawless in how the story comes together. It has history, romance and mystery woven into the story line. Lia is lost since the unexpected death of her husband 18 months earlier. She finds herself fading away into nothing by staying in Seattle. She decides to return to the countryside of France to see if she can make a life on her own. She is a true historian in the way that she lives and breathes her subject matter, which is the Cather religion.

Lia is an interesting character. She comes back to Languedoc because it is where she feels the most at home. It is where her part of her family's roots are and it where her research has taken her. It is also the last place where her and Gabriel were happy.  As Lia experiences her sudden flashes or transport, as a reader you are just as jarred as she is and don't quite know what to make of it either. It is her journey into the past that helps her figure out the present and maybe lead her to her future.

Journeying into the past while living in the present isn't an easy thing to accomplish but Ms. Johnson does it extremely well. She blends these two together seamlessly that you find yourself wanting to move between the two worlds as well as Lia. How she meshes the past and the present caught me off guard a few times but it the best way. I wasn't entirely sure how it was going to come together and when I thought I picked up on the clues, she's switch it up.

The setting is absolutely stunning and Ms. Johnson does a fantastic job of describing the landscape of both the past and the present. It definitely made this reader want to journey to this region in France for a trip. Plus it seems like they have fantastic wineries in the area and one can't miss out on that.

My only hang up is that I wasn't completely sold on the "head over heels" love between Raoul and Lia. I am all for Lia moving on and letting go of Gabriel but I just thought it was out of character for her to fall for Raoul so quickly.

I'm not doing this novel enough justice because I really don't want to give anything away in the plot. Plus it's really one of those novels that you will want to experience for yourself.

If you loved either Outlander or Time Traveler's Wife, then you will want to get your hands on In Another Life.

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