Hi, lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host J. A. Boulet and her new book, “The Strong
Amongst Us”! For other stops on her
Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of
the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $15
Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also,
come back daily to interact with J. A. and to increase your chances of winning!
This eBook is on SALE on Kobo for ONLY $0.99 during
the book tour!!! See below for more
details.
Thanks for stopping by!
Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!
The Strong Amongst Us
by J. A. Boulet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Historical Fiction
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BLURB:
On a
stormy day in October 1875, a boatload of Icelandic explorers crash land on a
beach paradise called Willow Point on Lake Winnipeg. Except it proves to be
anything but paradise.
On
that fateful day, young Nathan Olason steps afoot onto the soil of a foreign
country, a place that he is determined to claim as his new home. Against a
stunning backdrop of Lake Winnipeg, Nath and his relatives struggle to stay
alive against all odds in this strange unforgiving new country called Canada.
With natural sand beaches and breathtaking sunsets, the lake quickly changes to
a menacing force, with massive storm surges and frigid temperatures, claiming
lives like flies. Nath soon realizes that to claim this wilderness as New
Iceland, he must persevere.
Events
soon blow wildly out of control as heavy snowfalls, emerging governments,
racism and mass starvation tests Nathan’s limits. With the help of a beautiful
local Cree woman named Anwa, they learn vital hunting and ice fishing skills,
teaching themselves how to live off the land. Then just when they think they
have prevailed, tragedy strikes an ominous blow, a smallpox epidemic that
decimates villages, quarantines the town of Gimli, but most of all threatens to
claim what he holds dear the most.
With
stirring realism, surprising bits of humour and steamy romance scenes, The
Strong Amongst Us weaves a rich historical tale of immigration, manhood,
immense love and resilience, leaving readers empowered by the sheer will of the
human spirit.
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EXCERPT ONE:
He
stared at the beautiful sun, peering over the horizon of gentle waves. The
coldness stung, but he embraced it. The lake was much calmer today. He loved it
actually; luck was on his side. They would most likely be able to send the
funds request of the remaining five-thousand-dollar loan to the Dominion today
by boat.
A
movement caught his eye. Someone was pulling in a larger boat. He stood and
used his hand to shelter from the sun. He squinted into the bright rays. It was
just one person, pulling in the boat. He strapped his boots on and scurried
over to the dock.
“Hey,
do you need a hand?” Nathanael shouted as he approached.
A
woman’s voice lilted into the air, gentle but full of strength. “No, I am
okay.”
“No,
I must! Let me help you,” Nathan insisted.
She
looked at him stubbornly, shook her head and relented. “If you must.”
Nath
grabbed the rope and helped pull in the boat, anchoring it along the sand. “Is
this the boat that will be taking the letter to the Dominion for us today?”
“It
is, yes,” she replied. “Sorry for my English. I am still learning.”
“You
are native to this land?” Nath asked. “How long have you lived here?”
“Forever,”
she laughed. “Ma and Pa were born here, so was I.”
“Interesting,”
Nath said. “It is a beautiful land. And a beautiful lake.”
“Yes,
Nath, it is,” she replied.
“You
remembered my name?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Falling in Love with the Main Characters:
Firstly, the most important thing I believe that I did when
writing this book was falling in love with Nathanael Olason myself. When you
love someone yourself, as a writer, the passion will come through your writing
without the author even knowing it.
Yuri
slammed the gate behind him and approached the group. Nath smiled and stuck out
his hand. “My name is Nathanael. We are part of a much larger group of
Icelanders that have recently settled on Willow Point. We are here to ask for
your assistance.”
His
courage and determination is palatable. When he begins to fall in love, my
readers start loving his girlfriend too, because she is not perfect to everyone
else but, in his eyes, she is the best thing to happen for him.
“I
can show you how to hunt the deer,” Anwa offered. “My family has been eating
deer meat for centuries. We use bow and arrows for the deer.”
“I
would love that.” Nathanael looked at this small strong woman and was amazed. She
knew how to fish and hunt this land better than anyone, and she was half the
size of some of his Icelandic cousins. “I think that’s pretty amazing that you
are so experienced in fishing and hunting, Anwa. It is rare for a woman to know
such things.”
Anwa
looked up; her large brown eyes shone with achievement. “Thank you, Nath. No
one has ever said anything like that to me before.”
I
include many glimpses of into Nath’s emotions as he prepares to commit to the
love of his life.
Nath’s
heart exploded. His pent-up emotions released into a torrent of misery and
happiness.
They
stood there at the door, crying on each other, so happy to just be in each
other’s embrace again. Her smell wafted into his nostrils, filling him with her
pheromones until he felt high and giddy. Her softness made his heart melt
instantly. He forgot every single thing he had rehearsed and just said the next
thing that came to his mind.
Then
finally when the weather, environment, governments and a dangerous smallpox
epidemic carry them towards the climax, they bravely face each obstacle
together.
As
they returned to the entrance, the smell of smoke filled their nostrils again.
It was a sickly acrid smell, something Nath had never smelled before.
Anwa
spoke firmly to James Settee. “Whatever are they burning, Reverend?”
James
coughed and cleared his throat. “They are burning the bodies and clothing. Just
in case it is smallpox.”
Anwa
breathed in sharply and stomped out with Nath in tow. He rushed to catch up
with her.
“Hey,
babe,” Nath called out to her.
She
continued rushing to the horses, without turning back once.
“Hey,”
Nath said as he finally caught up to her. He grabbed her arm. She turned to
face him with tears flowing freely down her pretty face. She collapsed into his
arms as he engulfed her whole body into his.
The
strength of both main characters are felt through their actions. Readers
experience Nath and Anwa’s lives on very personal level, every tear and every
fear, taking readers on a roller coaster ride of love, racism, hardship, death,
storms and hope for a better future.
It
was November 27, 1876. A cordon sanitaire station was set up at Netley Creek,
sixteen miles from the northern border of Manitoba at Boundary Creek. The
quarantine line was being enforced by a thirteen-member military garrison.
“We
are here to stay now,” Nath said, solemnly.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy The Strong Amongst Us
(Book One of The Olason Chronicles). My wish is that it changes your life as
much as it changed mine. My gracious thanks also to Fabulous and Brunette for
hosting me.
Enjoy a free excerpt on my
website:
Chapter One Preview:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
J. A. Boulet is
the passionate author of The Olason Chronicles, a historical saga of
immigration, love and perseverance. The Strong Amongst Us Book 1 was
released on Amazon in April 2020. She was born and raised in Western Canada as
a first generation Canadian from European descent. Her parents landed in St.
John’s, NFLD as refugees in 1956, a direct result of the Hungarian Revolution.
J. A. Boulet was born many years later, raised in a strong Hungarian culture
and proudly calls Canada home to this day. She started writing poetry at the
age of five and progressed to short stories and novels. She has a keen interest
in history, healing, family bonds and embracing the unknown. J. A Boulet writes
with a spine-tingling realism like none other, grabbing your emotions and
refusing to let go. The Strong Within Us Book 2 is scheduled to be
released on November 11, 2020.
She
currently lives in Canada with her two teenaged sons and a crested gecko named
Mossio. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH J. A.:
J. A. Enjoying Some R&R Out on the Lake
PC - @ J. A. Boulet
Website:
Blog:
Email:
admin@jaboulet.ca
Twitter:
Instagram:
YouTube:
Reddit:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO:
**The Strong Amongst Us eBook is on SALE on Kobo for ONLY
$0.99 during the book tour!!!**
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon US Hardcover:
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon AU:
Amazon FR:
Amazon IT:
Barnes and Noble Hardcover:
The Book Depository Hardcover:
BAM! Books-A-Million Hardcover:
Chapters Hardcover:
Kobo eBook – ON SALE $0.99!!!:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
J. A. will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
J. A. ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteGood morning! Thank you so much! I'm delighted to be here! It's not an easy road following your dreams but I'm doing it!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting! Idk what authors would do without you 💕
ReplyDeleteI like the excerpt, sounds good.
ReplyDeleteIt's been great getting to discover your book and share with the readers in my family. Thank you and thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a fascinating book. I'm doing genealogy into my husband's family, in NW Ontario, very similar in time (and Metis). Harsh climate, hard life.
ReplyDelete