It's All About That Book, 'Bout That Book

So my first review came over the weekend. It's in Reedsy Discovery, an online book review site and man, it's a really good review. I'm psyched up about it. For eight days we were in Europe (more about that later), and the book was far from my mind, or anyway, it was in deep background. Home last Friday. We had a petsitter, and she had to drag in the boxes of books that came while we were gone. I had told her, via text, to open one and sure enough, THE BOOK was inside. She was so excited, I told her to take one. It looks great. I'm happy. And tomorrow is the official pub date. So since I'm being all egotistical, here's the review:

 

Reedsy Discovery ™

Discover something new to read

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For Love and Glory

By Cindy Bonner

 

Must read 🏆

A beautiful tale of purpose, courage and love that transcends time periods and generations.

Cindy Bonner’s For Love and Glory follows Lange DeLony, a young man who loves to fly. He avoids his problems as he searches futilely for purpose and happiness. After a tragic loss, Lange is even more determined to escape his painful reality and decides to join the Royal Air Force during WWII in a fight that isn’t even his own. Along his journey he meets ferry pilot Mackie MacLeod, and discovers more about himself and how to truly find what is missing in his life.

 

 

The characters are so real and seem to explode off of the pages. Lange especially shows tremendous change as the readers see him thrive on his strengths and battle with his weaknesses. What is interesting to note is that so many different characters affected by the same war have such varied attitudes, desires and motivations. This makes the reading very intriguing as the reader watches each storyline and sees how each character makes choices and deals with the consequences afterwards. 

 

 

The language and writing style are as varied as the characters. At times the words are witty as seen by, ‘“Excuse her. She’s not used to being polite.”’ On other occasions they are thought-provoking: “It is not necessary to be a hearing person to know when anger has won.” Action scenes are written with sharp, short sentences which create that intense, adrenaline filled feeling: “His legs trembled. Heart hammered in his ears.” Bonner’s constant language and style changes keep the readers locked in and make the storytelling more impactful.

 

 

For Love and Glory explores themes related to Identity and Purpose. Readers should be able to relate to the characters who are trying to find themselves in the midst of chaos and war. In this way, the plot goes beyond a Historical Fiction set in the 1940s and hones in on the truth about humanity despite the age or time period - there’s a need to be accepted, to be loved and discover what makes one thrive in the world in which one lives.

 

 

The story has lots of information and facts which may elude some readers and cause them to be lost at times. But Bonner does a great job in maintaining the authenticity of the time which makes the story so realistic. Readers who enjoy Historical Fiction or stories about love, war and purpose, should definitely read this book.

 

REVIEWED BY

Renee Padmore

 

 

Published on April 26, 2022

110000 words

Contains mild explicit content 

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Onward....

 

 

The Last Time I Saw France

In the late 1990s I made two back-to-back trips to France. This was before the Euro when the US dollar was 7 to 1 over the French Franc and trips to that country were relatively inexpensive for Americans. I absolutely fell in love with France. Both trips were, ostensibly, research for my novel RIGHT FROM WRONG, which came out in 1999 and deals, in part, with the First World War. At least a third of it takes place in France, but there was an awful lot of sightseeing, eating, and most of all wine-drinking that had little to nothing to do with the novel. When I got back home after the second trip, I figured my France days were over, so many other places to see and explore, and in the ensuing 20+ years, I have done that. But here I am, sitting at my desk writing this, and I am days away from seeing France one more time. And I couldn't be happier.

This time it will be combined with a couple of other countries, those that have banks and bridges along and across the Rhine River. We went on a river cruise of the Danube before the Pandemic, and had this trip scheduled to take place in August 2020. Well, we all know what happened. Everything got canceled in 2020 but we are going now. I hope we are in a Covid window here, and it will be as good of an experience as the last river cruise. The cruise line is requiring passengers to be totally vaccinated, and there will be regular testing throughout the trip. But ... France ... again. And probably finally this time. 

I've been to most of the stops on the Alsatian border of the Rhine, but there's always something missed. What I remember is ancient castles, medieval castles, the big unruly nests of storks on platforms high over the houses. I remember the Vosges Mountains in the distance, and that the Ill river conjoins with the Rhine at Strasbourg somewhere near the European Parliament building. There's an unfinished cathedral there in Strasbourg, with a missing spire, and inside the cathedral, a huge astronomical clock with hundreds of moving parts. I stood and watched that clock for most of an hour. I remember the half-timbered architecture and the good sauerkraut and sausages I had there. 

And then there's Colmar, another half-timbered city, La Petit Venice, because of the houses that sit right on the Lauch River which runs throughout the old town. Riesling and Pinot Blanc and Gewurtztraminer (pronounced "Girls Are Meaner"), and an effervescent wine with the word Alsace in its name. I remember walking through the streets with all the lovely windows dressed by the merchants: knotted loaves of crusty bread, and sweet cakes with cream toppings and fruit slices arranged perfectly on top. French people appreciate the beauty of their country and their pride in it shows in the care they take to make everything beautiful. I'm so happy to be able to spend a few days there again. I wish my French hadn't got so rusty, but I'm sure we'll be with French-speakers so I shouldn't have to worry. 

We will also be floating through The Netherlands, Germany, and ending in Switzerland, but I left a piece of my heart in France in the 1990s. Maybe I will find it again next week. 

En avant ...