The Way to Remember by Martha Reynolds Book Tour, Guest Post & $50. G.C. Giveaway! {Ends 11/20/20}

Book Details:
 The Way to Remember by Martha Reynolds
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  341 pages
Women's fiction, general fiction | Tour dates: Oct 26 to Nov 13, 2020
Publisher:  Independent  |  Release date:   June, 2020
Content Rating:  PG-13 +M. There are a few swear words, and sex is more suggested than explicit, but there are one or two moments that are provocative.
Book Description:
        Set in New England at the time of the American Bicentennial, The Way to Remember is the poignant story of a displaced young woman struggling to figure out who she is within the context of her hometown and the carefully masked dysfunction of her family. "Everything can be fixed by writing a check." Words to live by for Robin Fortune's wealthy father, until he can't buy her way back into college after she's expelled for dealing pot.
          Now he chooses not to speak to her anymore, but that's just one of the out-of-whack situations Robin's facing.
         At nineteen, she feels rudderless, working in a diner by day and sleeping with a buddy from high school by night - all so strange for her because she was always the one with the plan. While her college friends plotted how to ensnare husbands, she plotted a novel, which she scratched out into a series of spiral-bound notebooks she hides in the closet.
          But now, there's nothing. No vision, no future, no point. In fact, the only thing she feels she has to look forward to is that her favorite author, Maryana Capture, is paying a visit to the local Thousand Words bookstore. Robin surmises that if she can convince Maryana to help her get her novel published, she'll finally get herself back on track. Except that life never takes a straight path in this intensely satisfying coming-of-age novel.
Buy the Book:Amazon ~ Add to Goodreads

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REVIEW By LAWonder10:
This was a story with a very good moral to it.

A young woman with a fairly affluent father, was at the University and discovered she could make decent money selling "pot"... that is, until she got caught. All of her college "friends" scattered and pretended not to know her. Her father was very embarrassed and when her parents went with her before the judge, she was let off easy. She figured her father used his influence and wrote a check... that is what he always did. However, he did not let her off easy. He refused to talk to her and told her she had to move out of the house. They arranged for her to have a small rental apartment for low rent. However she had to get some type of a job to pay the rent and food expenses.

She was lucky the local diner just had an employee leave. Her boss was cranky, but she liked him  anyway. At least it was a job.

Te highlight of her week was when a cute lawyer came in twice each week. She made casual conversation with him and he always left a big tip. Could it turn into more?She couldn't believe it! Her favorite author was coming for a book tour to the small community not far away. She couldn't miss it! Her budget didn't allow for extras like books, but she had bought every one of this author's books. SHe had another reason she had to go to the book signing. A reason only two other. unlikely individuals, knew of.

This is about a girl who had a good relationship with her parents as a child but they grew apart as she got older. She had been given a lot through life.

She now felt the pains of rejection from her father and knew she had been wrong but refused to act like it was the serious situation it was. She still felt close to her mother but her mother began acting strange. Her brother was still speaking to her and her sister-in-law seemed to be her main confidant.

This is a story of a young woman sho makes discoveries about those she thought she knew, the one she idealized and, most of all, herself.

It is a story illustrating how often in life, people and situations are sometimes not what they/it seems.

There are some sexual situations, yet not explicit. There are a few "strong words" that I would have preferred be left out or written more discretely.

The character were developed well and they felt real. The situations were easily visualized. The TItle was okay and the book cover worked okay but wasn't a greaat choice to attract teh "browser.

The writing was good but not great. It did allow the reader to feel connected, though.

I offer a Four Stars rating for this book.
*This was gifted me with no pressure for a positive review. This is my honest review.

GUEST POST!

Pairing Music with a Novel
          Do you listen to music when you read? I do not, unless it’s instrumental classical music. No singing! It’s too hard for me to concentrate.
          However, I find that creating a playlist can help when I’m writing a novel. It sets the tone, the mood. If the book is set in a certain time period or year, it can be fun to research songs from that time.
          In the case of my novel The Way to Remember, I created a playlist while I was writing it. The novel is set in 1976 (a time I remember, because I’m old!), and I enjoyed going back in time and listening to some of the hits from that year. Here are the songs I came up with:

          “Fame” by David Bowie. This song talks about the dissatisfaction with fame and stardom. Of course, my character Robin Fortune spends her days dreaming of the fame that can come with being a bestselling author.
       “Afternoon Delight” by the Starland Vocal Band. It’s a light song that hints at what ‘afternoon delight’ might mean. Robin knows.
           “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John with Kiki Dee. This song is appropriate to the shaky relationship Robin has with her friend Frank, and then with her upstairs neighbor David.
          “Love Hurts” by Nazareth. Robin’s relationships are tested – not just with Frank and David, but with her father and her mother as well.
           “Theme from ‘Mahogany’ (Do You Know Where You’re Going To?)” by Diana Ross. Symbolic of the rudderless aspect of Robin’s life, she undergoes some heavy introspection about her future.
          “Get Closer” by Seals and Crofts. If Robin wants a relationship, she has some work to do on her end, too!
           “Fly, Robin, Fly” by Silver Convention. The end song is appropriate to our intrepid heroine.

           So there’s my playlist for The Way to Remember. This can be a fun exercise to do with any book!
Martha Reynolds

MEET THE AUTHOR:
​        Martha Reynolds was raised in Rhode Island, spent a year of college in Switzerland, and is always planning a return visit. She completed an accomplished career as a fraud investigator and decided it was time to do something she really liked.
        She now writes full-time and has set a personal goal of releasing a book a year until she dies. Her writing has appeared in Magnificat magazine and her very short poem was read by journalist Connie Schultz during NPR's Tell Me More poetry challenge.
        Her novel VILLA DEL SOL won the 2018 Book Award in Literary Fiction by the Independent Publishers of New England.
Connect with the author:   Website  ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ goodreads

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Here is the tour schedule. 

$50. Gift Card GIVEAWAY!

$50 Amazon Gift Card courtesy of Martha Reynold's THE WAY TO REMEMBER 
(Customers of Amazon.com only) (ends Nov 20)

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