Sunday, August 12, 2012

Linn B. Halton - The Restaurant @ The Mill Virtual Book Tour Review/Excerpt/Guest Post/Giveaway (Ends 9/2) WW

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Contemporary Romance/Women's Fiction
Title: The Restaurant 
Author: Linn B. Halton
Date to be Published: 8/2/12
Synopsis: 
Age, relationships, and careers – we are all unique. Yet beneath the exterior facade we choose
to show to the world at large, what do we have in common? The things we bury deep inside; the
worries and fears we are unable to verbalise, and the hand fate takes in our lives is a common
thread. Sometimes we fail to recognise in each other that innermost struggle on the path to true
love.

Six very different stories, six couples linked by The Restaurant @ The Mill, owned by Hilary
Marks and Ben Adams. As the restaurant thrives the atmosphere is alive with conversation,
snapshots of lives unfolding; each one a personal journey.

Excerpt
The first time I walked around the flour mill at Huntingbridge in Gloucestershire turned out to be a life-changing moment.  Reminiscent of the first time I met my business partner, Ben Adams.  The initial thought that struck me on both occasions was “Great, not perfect, but I can work with this.” It was enough to clinch the deal for me.

You see, I thought I had a “perfect” life once a long time ago. I married Josh, the man of my dreams, only to find out one failed marriage and a broken heart later, that everything can change in an instant.  What you see depends upon where you’re standing when you admire it.  If you’re on the outside looking in on someone else’s life, it’s only natural to form an opinion based on the façade you see.  What I would eventually discoverrf was that even when you’re on the inside looking out, it’s easy to be fooled into thinking everything is fine. On that fateful day many years ago, what I hadn't appreciated was that what we had was in fact a love triangle, and knowing that would have given me a whole new perspective.  


Author Bio
Linn B Halton lives in the UK, in the small Gloucestershire village of Arlingham, on
the banks of the River Severn with her adorable husband and cat with attitude – Mr
Tiggs! She writes romantic fiction with a psychic or astrological theme and many of the
paranormal events that feature in her books are real life experiences.

Linn is also a featured new Author on http://loveahappyending.com/ and Editor of the
feature ‘Author & Associate Catch-Ups’ including ‘Reader/Author Team Reports’ on the
website’s magazine-style blog.


Visit Linn’s author page: 
Twitter: @LinnBHalton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I can say with certainty that this book is unlike anything I have ever read before.  Six couples who share one place in common-the restaurant.  And it is written from the perspectives of almost every character involved.  This is a simple set of stories--nothing too complicated.  And that is probably the beauty of this story.

I can say right off the bat that there was only one "profane" word (not too bad at all, really), and there were only implied bedroom scenes.  That is something that amazes and delights me.  However, it does have a psychic/paranormal theme that I could have done without.  I don't believe that any of the paranormal elements really contribute to the tales in this book.  But that is just my opinion.

While I truly connected with the stories concerning Hillary and Ben, I struggled to connect with many of the other  people.  Part of the problem I had was that the stories jumped around so much that I became quite confused with the details of the various characters' stories.  This made it rather difficult to connect with the stories in several instances.

I appreciated the realism of these stories.  The book certainly did come to a conclusion (I could have done without the epilogue, however--several, in fact.  It was nice to see that not all stories ended happily ever after.

I enjoyed the author's style of writing, for the most part.  And if you are looking for a light summer read that reads fast and keeps a simple pace, this may be just the book for you.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.  I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.



Guest post (by the Author)
 Pieces of Advice for aspiring authors - My Devotional Thoughts - August 13 – Linn B Halton, The Restaurant

As a new writer I’m still learning and growing, but in the three years since I began writing I realise, with hindsight, that I have learnt quite a bit!  I don’t think I’m typical, so be warned as I am a natural work-a-holic, but there are three pieces of advice that I can offer which might help someone just starting out.

1.       Don’t worry about the processes

I waited a long time to be able to give up work and write and I was content to wait because I knew from a very young age that when that time came I would want to write 24/7.  I began writing in March 2009 and when the moment arrived I simply sat down in front of the keyboard and started typing away.  No plan, just a working title and an opening line.

At that point I spent every single second I could grab writing, I didn’t think about what happened after the manuscript was finished.  I wrote five manuscripts one after another because my focus was literally on the writing.  It was an indulgent, wonderful, enthralling time for me and if I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing.  So my advice is to spend your time focussed on the writing until you feel you want to have a break (preferably after completing at least one full manuscript), then think about what comes next.  The next part of the process is very time-consuming and will be a huge learning-curve, so you need to concentrate on that.

2.       Everyone makes mistakes

Surf the internet, look at other new writers and what they are doing when it comes to using social media and setting up your blog/website.  There is plenty of information out there, but don’t overload yourself and make setting up your author platform a priority.  If you want people to read your work they have to know about it and a simple blog/website is your showcase.  You can direct them there from Twitter and FB.  You will make mistakes because you are new, but try to limit those mistakes – look out for protocols, look at what other writers are doing and follow their example.  However, be yourself – don’t model yourself on someone else – you are unique and that is what you need to nurture.

3.      Work, work and work some more

Go into it with your eyes wide open.  If you think you work hard at what you do now, you will work twice as hard if you choose to become a writer.  It isn’t just about the writing and whether you self-publish or are lucky enough to attract a publishing contract, the stages up to, and post publication, will be a steep climb.  The good news is that if you write because it is your passion, you don’t begrudge one single second.  You’ll soon learn to live on four hours’ sleep a night (laugh) and still smile the next day!

One of my international readers will get the chance to win his/her own e-book copy of The Restaurant.  All you need to do is enter the rafflecopter below by 9:00 P.M. Pacific time by September 2.  Sounds good to you?  Than what are you waiting for?


a Rafflecopter giveaway

To follow the entire tour, check here.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for the great giveaway - Paul T/Pauline T aka Paul Tran ..... emscout9 at Hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds interesting! I love old mills.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like my kind of book. Thanks, Ruth for your review
    and making be aware of a amazing new writer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like a great book, Good luck everyone.

    ReplyDelete

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