March 5, 2013

Romancing Olive by Holly Bush


Romancing Olive
Publication Date: November 1, 2011 | BookBaby | 205p

In 1891, spinster librarian, Olive Wilkins, is shocked to learn of her brother’s violent death at a saloon gaming table and her sister-in-law’s subsequent murder, traveling far from her staid life to rescue her niece and nephew, now orphans. She arrives to find the circumstances of her brother’s life deplorable and her long held beliefs of family and tradition, shaken.

Accustomed to the sophistication of Philadelphia, Olive arrives in Spencer, Ohio, a rough and tumble world she is not familiar with, facing two traumatized children. Her niece and nephew, Mary and John, have been living with a neighboring farmer, widower Jacob Butler, the father of three young children of his own and a man still in pain from the recent loss of his wife.

Real danger threatens Olive and Mary and John while Jacob and his own brood battle the day-to-day struggles for survival. Will Olive and Jacob find the strength to fight their battles alone or together? Will love conquer the bitterness of loss and broken dreams?
My Review: This is a new author to me and I was looking forward to reading this book as I am a fan of historical fiction book. I think Holly did a good job of creating some strong characters in this book. Another thing I enjoyed about this book was that they author took the time to be very descriptive so you felt like you were right there in Spencer with the characters. 
Olive was a strong woman to go to an unknown place to find and raise her niece and nephew, then to find love in this unexpected place was also new to her. I thought it was fun to "watch" Olive transform from a well to do lady who was used to having a maid and cook to a woman who had to do things for herself as she had no help now. She had to learn to survive on her own so to speak. 
This was a very good book to me and I was glad I got the chance to read it. It did not disappoint. If you are looking for a nice Western with some romance mixed in then this is the book for you. 
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

About the Author

Holly Bush was born in western Pennsylvania to two avid readers. There was not a room in her home that did not hold a full bookcase. She worked in the hospitality industry, owning a restaurant for twenty years and recently worked as the sales and marketing director in the hospitality/tourism industry and is credited with building traffic to capacity for a local farm tour, bringing guests from twenty-two states, booked two years out.  Holly has been a marketing consultant to start-up businesses and has done public speaking on the subject.

Holly has been writing all of her life and is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, particularly political and historical works. She has written four romance novels, all set in the U.S. West in the mid 1800’s. She frequently attends writing conferences, and has always been a member of a writer’s group.

Holly is a gardener, a news junkie, has been an active member of her local library board and loves to spend time near the ocean. She is the proud mother of two daughters and the wife of a man more than a few years her junior. Holly Bush's website


Be sure to follow the rest of the tour: Virtual Blog Tour

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, February 18
Review at nomadreader (Romancing Olive)
Giveaway at History Undressed
Tuesday, February 19
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee (Romancing Olive)
Wednesday, February 20
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair (Romancing Olive)
Thursday, February 21
Review at Flashlight Commentary (Reconstructing Jackson)
Friday, February 22
Review at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader (Reconstructing Jackson)
Giveaway at A Writer’s Life: Working with the Muse
Monday, February 25
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time (Romancing Olive)
Review & Giveaway at The Life and Times of a Book Addict (Romancing Olive)
Tuesday, February 26
Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court
Wednesday, February 27
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie (Reconstructing Jackson)
Thursday, February 28
Review at Book Drunkard (Reconstructing Jackson)
Friday, March 1
Interview at Tribute Books
Monday, March 4
Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books (Romancing Olive)
Tuesday, March 5
Review at Raging Bibliomania (Reconstructing Jackson)
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks (Romancing Olive)
Wednesday, March 6
Giveaway at Layered Pages
Thursday, March 7
Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books (Reconstructing Jackson)
Friday, March 8
Review at Raging Bibliomania (Romancing Olive)
Review at The Novel Life (Romancing Olive)
Monday, March 11
Review at Griperang’s Bookmarks (Reconstructing Jackson)
Review at Books in the Burbs (Romancing Olive)
Interview & Giveaway at The Novel Life (Romancing Olive)
Tuesday, March 12
Giveaway at Passages to the Past

2 comments:

  1. Good morning Angela! I'm so glad you enjoyed Olive's story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a interesting story!

    Great review!

    ReplyDelete