Thursday, October 15, 2020

Blog Tour: Come Marching Home, Pt. 2

 

Welcome back to the Come Marching Home blog tour! Today, we have an interview with two sets of siblings from the book; Ernst and Alfonse, and Franz and Ada! Don't forget to check out the official lineup and schedule! While you're doing that, be sure to take a look at the pre-order goodies!

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1. What’s the most embarrassing thing you ever did together?

Alfonse: *runs hand over face* You should probably take this.

Ernst: Well…there was that time when you were climbing a tree to impress a girl. I was supposed to stop her on the road and keep her occupied until you got ‘into position’ but instead you fell out of the tree and broke your arm.

Alfonse: Mom was mad.

Ernst: Secretly, she thought it was funny though.

2. If you had more funds/means than you do now, what would be the most extravagant thing you would buy/do?

Alfonse: I want my own car. But like, one of the speedsters. Sleek and maybe red.

Ernst: I’d like to travel. Kind of hard when a war is going on, but maybe someday I will. I’d love to take Ada to see some different places.

Alfonse: Of course you would.

3. What are some of your favorite holiday memories?

Ernst: The Midwinter Festival is always the best time of year. I remember how much fun we used to have as kids. The food, the parties, and the gifts.

Alfonse: I remember one year where we ate so much we fell asleep at the festival and had to be carried home. That was the year we got wooden swords.

Ernst: Which also injured you.

Alfonse: I’m just lucky to have a brother who is a healer, that’s all.

4. Thank you, Ernst and Alfonse. On to Franz and Ada! What is one bad habit you have that you think the other doesn't know about?

Franz: Ada chews her nails.

Ada: I do not!

Franz: You only say that because you thought I didn’t know about it!

Ada: Well, you never clean your room. It’s a disaster! And you always leave your socks in the bathroom.

Franz: I can’t take a bath with them on.

Ada: They smell terrible!

5. What is your favorite holiday food?


Ada: Apple torte. Really anything with apples. Our village has some of the best apples that the Seidels grow in their orchard.

Franz: Agreed. Though nothing really beats apple cider and caramel popcorn. We only ever really get that on the Midwinter Festival so it’s really special.

6. How would you describe your appearance? How about the appearance of your sibling?

Franz: *sighs* Ada is too pretty, I am always having to beat the village boys away to save my precious sister.

Ada: That is a lie, I would say I’m moderate. And I am only interested in Ernst anyway. The other boys know that. *Blushes*

Franz: Well, how would you describe me, then? Ruggedly handsome? A real catch?

Ada: Frogface.

Franz: -_-

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Monday, October 12, 2020

Blog Tour: Come Marching Home


Welcome to the Come Marching Home blog tour! Be sure to check out the giveaway goodies, the live release stream, and all the other blog tour stops! Find the full official post here.

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Cover


 

Review

 Slight spoilers ahead

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As always, Hazel has given us epic, gut-wrenchingly difficult brotherly bonds, and an intriguing pseudo-historical fantasy world. This very much has WWII vibes, and does a great job of capturing the disjointedness of returning to the home front after being at the front lines.

One thing that contributed to my enjoyment was the cinematic pacing. All of the beats were in the right place, I had music going on in the back of my head the entire time, and the ending tied everything together. Books that follow this pacing normally annoy me, since I can see where everything is going. In this, however, I spent a majority of my time hurriedly swiping right and biting my nails (I'm surprised I have any left). There were a couple scenes that were reminiscent of the a Hallmark film, but they were well-done rather than...overabundant and...saccharine.

The triggering content, in my opinion, was balanced; enough detail to get a sense of the horrors of war, but not enough to be considered gory or over-descriptive for the average reader. It is likely stressful/detailed enough to turn off sensitive readers, however. So a forewarning there. There are flashbacks to battles, mentions of blood and dead bodies, and broken bones/other wounds are mentioned.

Hazel has a knack for writing stubborn characters. Very very stubborn characters. It made for a delightful clash of interests throughout. Also: no angst in regards to the love life of one of the main characters. Just. I was so happy. Sure there were problems, but they tackled them together and they didn't waste what time they had. Also, only one of the main characters had a love life to deal with, and it was a nice side-arc that didn't overshadow the entire story.

I feel like I have so much more to say...but this review is late in being posted and I WILL keep major spoilers out of my reviews! Though I may stop doing that soon, because everyone views different aspects of the story as spoilers and it is exhausting trying to write about a book without mentioning character-specific things...

Author Bio

Hazel B. West is the author of several novels including historical titles like On a Foreign Field, By Blood or By Bond; Wolfsblood, a book about werewolves in Roman Britain and the Modern Tales of Na Fianna series, which feature modern Irish warriors with swords and fast sports cars and lots of faeries.
Hailing from Purgatory (aka, Florida) Hazel is an indie author, book wyrm, and coffee connoisseur. She typically enjoys writing books with an unconventional flair, probably with a bit of folklore and mythology, most definitely with a lot of siblings or brothers-in-arms. When she’s not writing, she manages an Etsy shop, drinks a lot of coffee, listens to music, haunts conventions, or just holes up like an eldritch horror and binges her favorite shows—for inspiration. If you meet this rare creature on the street, she has been known to respond to the offer of coffee and old bookstores. But it’s probably best you try to contact her online first.

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Come back on Thursday for a character interview! Also, don't forget to check out the pre-order swag pack!

Friday, October 2, 2020

Cover Reveal: Come Marching Home

 I could have sworn I had this on auto-post, but nope...I did not even have it drafted...

One would think that quitting retail would help me not be so scatterbrained, but nope. Nope nope nope. I shall be coming back to fix the formatting and such, make it look more streamlined. Later. Even though the synopsis photo is making me chew at my hair and scream internally (IT NEEDS TO BE INSIDE THE MARGINS. But if it's smaller it's harder to read. 😫). (Plus reading the blurb is giving me a resurgence of feels from the book. 😭)

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Release Date: October 13th

Pre-Order Info

If you pre-order Come Marching Home or just order a copy of it by the end of October (extending because the paperback won’t be available for preorder), you can email the receipt of your purchase to sirwilliamssquire@gmail.com with your address and Hazel will send you a goodie pack!




Goodies: 

-A bookmark
-A sticker with art by H.S.J. Williams @h.s.j._williams
-A playlist curated by Hazel
-And if you order the paperback, you will get a signed bookplate

Synopsis



Cover




Author Bio

Hazel B. West is the author of several novels including historical titles like On a Foreign FieldBy Blood or By BondWolfsblood, a book about werewolves in Roman Britain and the Modern Tales of Na Fianna series, which feature modern Irish warriors with swords and fast sports cars and lots of faeries.

Hailing from Purgatory (aka, Florida) Hazel is an indie author, book wyrm, and coffee connoisseur. She typically enjoys writing books with an unconventional flair, probably with a bit of folklore and mythology, most definitely with a lot of siblings or brothers-in-arms. When she’s not writing, she manages an Etsy shop, drinks a lot of coffee, listens to music, haunts conventions, or just holes up like an eldritch horror and binges her favorite shows—for inspiration. If you meet this rare creature on the street, she has been known to respond to the offer of coffee and old bookstores. But it’s probably best you try to contact her online first.

Blog: http://hazelwest.blogspot.com 
Goodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5289626.Hazel_B_West
Twitter: https://twitter.com/artfulscribbler
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modern_bard67/
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/hazelwest