Wednesday, March 13, 2024

“Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing” by Lisa R . Howeler


About the Book

Book: Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing

Author: Lisa R. Howeler

Genre: Clean Cozy Mystery

Release Date: July 11, 2023

A little bit of mystery, a dash of romance, and a whole lot of heart

After being laid off from her job as a librarian at a small college, Gladwynn Grant isn’t sure what her next step in life is. When a job as a small-town newspaper reporter opens up in the town her grandmother Lucinda Grant lives in, she decides to take it to get away from a lot of things – Bennett Steele for one.

Lucinda has been living alone since Gladwynn’s grandfather passed away six years ago and she isn’t a take-it-easy, rock-on-your-front-porch kind of grandma. She’s always on the go and lately, she’s been on the go with a man who Gladwynn doesn’t know.

Gladwynn thought Brookstone was a small, quiet town, but within a few days of being there, she has to rethink that notion. Someone has cut the bank loan officer’s brakes, threatening letters are being sent, and memories of a jewelry theft from the 1990s have everyone looking at the cold case again.

What, if anything, will Gladwynn uncover about her new hometown and her grandmother’s new male friend? And what will she do about her grandmother’s attempt to set her up with the handsome Pastor Luke Callahan?

Find out in this modern mystery with a vintage feel.

 

Click here to get your copy!


 I really didn’t like this book. I was really hoping I would. This is my first thought on reading it. I am complaining and really want to throw this book. It is only the 3rd page. It starts out about newspaper reporter having to to a mvA. I’m I know those happen. Here is the part that I absolutely hate. One reporter says to another “I hope it’s a fatal. We need a centerpiece”. I think that is awful, I know this book is fiction but too many people and kids have died in mvA lately. What do you all think am I over reacting because with the boys here this week Joe has been on our minds a lot and then someone asked me about Joe’s accident today when we was at Wendy’s .  

I know that is personal information but my son was killed in a hit and run in 2021 so that statement was harsh to me. 

I did finish this book and it turned out better than I thought it would but it just wasn’t a hit with me.I am  hoping the next book is better. I do believe that mystery readers that don’t like alike of gory details would probably give this book 4 or 5 stars. Yes, there are a couple of mysteries solved in the pages of this book. 

Gladwynn’s grandmother is someone that I believe we would all like to have in our lives.

I received a complimentary copy from the author and Celebrate Lit and these opinions are my own. 



About the Author

Lisa Robinson-Howeler is a writer and photographer from Northeastern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and two children, her dog Zooma and her two cats Pixel and Scout. She is a former small-town newspaper reporter. She is also a wife, blogger, and a homeschooling mother. She blogs about fiction, faith, photography, and life.

 

 

 

 

More from Lisa

I can’t say that Gladwynn Grant’s character is based completely on my grandmother, but, in some ways, I did. I named her Gladwynn after my paternal grandmother who I grew up living over the creek and through the woods from.

Gladwynn was her middle name but I’m not really sure how she spelled it because she never really used it. She usually just wrote G. as the middle initial. When we did a search on Ancestry, we saw that some spellings on her documents were Gladwin and some were Gladwyn. I guess her family wasn’t sure either, but if I remember right (I don’t have the document right in front of me) on her birth certificate it was spelled Gladwin.

I liked the spelling of Gladwynn with a “y” and two “n’s” though so that is how I spelled Gladwynn’s name for the books.

My grandmother was tough and to the point. She wasn’t mean but she didn’t pull punches. She was not super maternal or affectionate. Again, though, she was not mean.

She lived through the Great Depression and raised children during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Her youngest, my dad, was in the Air Force when Vietnam broke out. He was never sent overseas but he helped build bombs and work on airplanes during that time.

She knew about hardship, trials, and heartbreak. Her husband died of cancer when he was in his 60s and she spent the next 35 years without him. She began to lose her eyesight to macular degeneration in her 80s.

None of what life threw at her stopped her from living her best life.

She still traveled and kept her house and property up. At the age of 86 I caught her on a ladder cleaning out the gutters. Around the same age she marched down the dirt road in front of her house with a walking stick and told the township road workers to make sure the drainage pipe they were putting in didn’t run into her field and flood it.

If she was afraid of things, she didn’t show it very often.

My family lived with her while I was in college and I learned so much about how to preserve and live a happy and fulfilled life despite the tragedies or trials of my life.

When I started thinking about writing a cozy mystery series, I wanted the main character to be a lot like grandma, but also more affectionate and sentimental than my grandmother seemed at times.

I only remember my grandmother telling me she loved me once or twice in my life, but I know she did because she showed it in her actions toward me.

I wrote Gladwynn to be bold and tough, but also to be affectionate and open with her feelings – a lot like my grandmother, but also a little different.

I think my grandmother would love the idea that I am writing a series of books based on her name and partially on her personality.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 13

Holly’s Book Corner, March 13

Texas Book-aholic, March 14

Devoted To Hope, March 15

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, March 16

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 17

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 18

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 19 (Author Interview)

Mornings at Character Cafe, March 19

Book Looks by Lisa, March 20

An Author’s Take, March 21

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 22

Blogging With Carol, March 23

Pause for Tales, March 23

Lily’s Corner, March 24

For Him and My Family, March 25

Mary Hake, March 25

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lisa is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2a7a8/gladwynn-grant-gets-her-footing-celebration-tour-giveaway

7 comments:

Michael Law said...

I'm excited to read this book. Thanks for hosting.

Lisa Howeler said...

Thank you for sharing!

Roxanne C. said...

Lucinda sounds like a fun character.

Anonymous said...

Seems like a fun read.
Marilyn

Bea LaRocca said...

Thank you for sharing your honest review of this book, I am in complete agreement with you on the unnecessary callousness of some reporters although if an author is going for realistic representation than it is incumbent on that author to show each side of the coin.
Once again, I am so sorry for your loss

Tami Vollenweider said...

Wow!! I do appreciate your honest opinion! Just like you I know things can happen , but personally I like a more upbeat story!!

DreaDrake1 said...

I also like the spelling Gladwynn. This sounds like an interesting book. Thanks for sharing!