Book Notes: September 1, 2021 - Leah Atwood Part 1

 I'm happy to bring to you a series written by an author friend who has encouraged me so much in my own writing. I was hoping to do an Indie Author Spotlight Interview with her this year, but her schedule is extremely packed. Instead, I'm going to share one of the series she's written with you today and give you my impression of these books. I truly enjoyed the Home to the Bayou series and I hope you'll give it a try. 

Book Reviews: Contemporary Inspirational Romance by Leah Atwood

Book 1 - Rex

Rex by Leah Atwood


A sweet cozy romance

Of all the books I've read by Leah Atwood, this one had the most heart-rending circumstances, both in the backstory, and in the progression of the plot. I thought the plot was well-done for that reason. I liked the chracters and enjoyed watching their growth in the story. The addition of some little known things about Louisiana was also super nifty.
The only negative thing I could say about the book was that there were a few areas which needed a bit more editing. Other than that, though, this was a pleasure to read.
I'd recommend it to any reader who enjoys inspirational romance that is sweet while not losing the raw emotion of struggles faced in life.

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One thing of note, I'm not sure why but the series title has not been updated on Goodreads yet. It shows up with its new proper title in Amazon, though. Please don't let that throw you for a loop! But do be aware there is a series out there whose target audience is the LGBTQ community entitled Bayou Boys. It's best to look these up by their individual titles, or by searching for Leah's name and finding them in the list of her books, if you choose not to use the Goodreads links in my post. (I don't get paid for any of these posts, by the way. I'm not sure if I mentioned that before. I just share what I'm reading and my thoughts on those books.) Another weird thing is that this book shows up singly. The following two books in the series aren't linked to it at all. So weird. :/

Book 2 - Lucas 

Lucas by Leah Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really am enjoying this series by Leah Atwood. In this book, I liked the main characters' flaws and how they worked those out. I also love the way Leah adds in the element of faith as a way of life. There were a few typos, but only one glaring typo. None of them kept me from wanting to know what happened next in the story, though. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys clean, inspirational romance with characters who come across as real and relatable.

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This one's also still listed under the old series title name and when you try to pull up the series, it doesn't show as a series on Goodreads. Just remember to look for these by checking for them under Leah's list of books. 

Book 3 - Beau

Beau by Leah Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Wonderful Story of Hope and Love

My rating is actually 4.5 stars. This a solid contemporary inspirational romance story with loveable, relatable characters who have real world struggles to overcome. I've been looking forward to reading this book so much and I'm happy to say I'm not disappointed.

Oh...there was one other thing. I've lived in Louisiana most of my life and I don't think I know any oil field worker who'd be caught wearing a chambray button-down shirt with khaki shorts and boat shoes. 🤔 That seemed a bit out of character for the hero, but his integrity more than made up for the unexpected fashion quirk. 😁

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After I posted this review, I started thinking. You know, I just don't move in the right circles to see the oil field workers who choose those clothes. The only ones I know are the grunt workers and they mostly wear jeans and work boots, or cowboy boots if they are dressing up.  I don't know the ones who sit behind desks or computers and I'd imagine they are the ones who'd choose shorts over jeans and boat shoes over boots. Anyway...it struck me as interesting at the time. 

I love finding little things like this in a story, though, because it does make me think and push me a little harder to dig deeper myself when it comes to my own work. It's those little details that really fill in the blanks for a reader and create a richer mind-picture of a character. 

I think what I loved most about these books was the fact they take place in my home state. There are a lot of things I'm dissatisfied with when it comes to Louisiana. But it is most definitely my home and there are some things I heartily missed when we were stationed elsewhere.

 From One Indie Author to Another

Leah and I had a chat after I posted my last review about how mentioning typos in a review could get it knocked out of Amazon's search listings, in spite of the number of stars you give it, and prevent potential readers from seeing books they might be interested in. I haven't done my own research on this but if it's certain, and I would imagine it is, then Amazon should really be ashamed, though I doubt they are. This type of censorship hurts both potential readers and authors. 

I disagree with the way they use the star system, too, so, they haven't really impressed me. They insinuate that they're all for supporting indie authors, but what they really mean is that they'll support indies who publish exclusively through them. I get it, but at the same time, there has to be a better way which would allow indies publishing through other companies to be seen in the search results. Some of my favorite reviews to read are those with one or two stars. I love seeing what other readers hated about a book and what drove them to rate it so low. 

One thing I can't understand is how some people can review a book, give it one star and then say, "It was the best book I ever read!" as if that's a review. And it counts, y'all! That little one star review that says absolutely nothing about the book and doesn't help the author at all is like a sloppy, black, ink smudge across the pages of an indie's book. And it does far more harm than you can imagine. If you have to give a book less than three stars, at least tell us why. And if you're going to leave a rating, please learn how the rating system works for whichever site you're using at the time. 

I could understand their policy of having 50 five-star ratings before listing a book in the search results. But using something included in an honest review to knock a book out of the feed? How detrimental to all involved! 

I will be researching this topic more in the future. If any of my readers have looked into this, I'd love to hear from you. It's hard to keep up with all the changes made to algorithms from one website to the next. If we all help each other, then I'm certain we can rise above such petty practices. 

For myself, I prefer an honest opinion, so I give an honest opinion. How can I improve if readers aren't honest with me? How can other writers improve if I'm not honest about my thoughts on their work? This isn't a problem for me. But for someone trying to support a family, it's a HUGE issue. I want, more than anything where writing is concerned, to see indie authors thrive in their pursuit of a passion we share. 

Leah's books are all fairly priced and they do tend to follow through on her promise to leave you with a smile at the end. They're perfect for winding down at the end of a hard day. I hope you'll give her work a chance and also remember to leave a review when you're done. 

Thank y'all so much for stopping by today. I appreciate the time you take to read my posts and help me support other authors in their work. Let me know if you've read these, or if you plan to. I'd love to hear what you think about them, too! 

Until next time...