Friday, March 8, 2013

'Love in Provence' by William Auch Super Book Blast!


LOVE IN PROVENCE
By
William Auch

BLURB:

When John Martin is forced to sell his tech company, he decides to take a six-month vacation to the south of France.

When he meets Madame Garcin, her daughter Sophie, and her granddaughter Isabelle, his life is changed forever. What began as a long vacation becomes a journey of self-discovery marked by love, loss, and tragedy.

He is molded by this family of three generations of women, tempered by tragedy themselves, in ways that he could never have imagined.

EXCERPT:
It seemed to John that the next three weeks could not go by fast enough. He was energized and quickly got back into the routine of jogging along the Embarcadero. It was a Sunday morning and John had made it all the way to the Marina Green, which was farther than the length of his usual run.
The green was filled with joggers, mothers pushing strollers, and the sailors heading for the yacht harbor. The sky was bright blue and cloudless, and a stiff breeze blew into the harbor from the other side of the Golden Gate. John stopped in the middle of the green to catch his breath and looked up to see a sky full of kites. There were large ones, small ones, one that looked like a dragon, and another which resembled a bird, all in a kaleidoscope of colors that were enhanced by the sun from above. They all danced in the wind, some darting side to side, and others diving toward each other as if to demonstrate who owned the skies. Some would descend to the ground then dart back up into the sky again.

Off to one side was a small girl with a pony tail, who ran across the grass as though she were about to lift off like a bird. Behind her she towed a small red kite, which stubbornly refused to become airborne despite her best attempts to launch it. Each time the kite plunged to the grass she would tighten the string again and make another run at it, only to have the kite rise about ten feet, then plummet to the grass. She tried over and over again with such determination, John wondered how long she had been at it. After each failed attempt she would look over at her mother who was keeping an eye on her from a distance, then the girl would continue with more determination than the previous attempt. John thought about Isabelle and how much he missed her. He could not wait to see her. He could imagine Isabelle when she was young, pulling on the kite string with the same determination as the little girl.
John walked over to her mother sitting on the grass and asked with a smile, “Do you mind if I give her a hand?”

Her mother raised her eyebrows at first and studied John from top to bottom, but then a smile slowly crept onto her face. “Sure, why not?”
**My thoughts**

Reading this book, I desperately wanted to hop on a plane and hang out in the south of France for an extended period of time. I haven't been there in 20 years and long to practice the language and enjoy the beauty, possibly even recreating some of it in artistic means.

John has one of those rare chances in life to almost reinvent himself. He has just sold his multimillion dollar business, and is in a place where no one knows his true identity. Sophie is the first person he has met in a long time with whom he can imagine settling down. Not many people are given that opportunity!

AUTHOR INFORMATION:
William Auch is a physician residing in Sacramento, California. When not seeing patients, he writes, studies French, and travels the world.

Author William Auch is awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn commenter during this tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

14 comments:

  1. Sounds like a really cute story! I love it :)

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

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  2. I would like to thank the host and everyone who comments. I will not be able to comment during the day but will check in later this afternoon.

    William Auch

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  3. Thanks for the chance to win!

    hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu

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  4. Sounds great! How do you come up with the names for your characters?

    galaschick78(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  5. I like the review, sounds like a good book.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  6. Great review!

    emiliana25(at)web(dot)de

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  7. I love the sound of that, brilliant review!

    lyra.lucky7ATgmailDOTcom

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  8. I picked the French names I like. I've always liked the name Sophie. If I had a daughter, I would name her Sophie. Thanks for all the comments.

    William Auch

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  9. I've always like the name Sophie. If I had a daughter, I would name her Sophie. I guess I pick names that I like.

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  10. I would like to you for hosting me. It was great.

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  11. William...You travel and study French...I assume that you have traveled to France and that experience comes out in this book? I took French in HS and college but have never been to France...or even French-speaking Canada!
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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  12. Nice review and excerpt

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  13. Between the book description and the excerpt I was mildly intrigued, however that changed when I read your thoughts/review on the book. Your review gives me a bit of insight that I was looking for. I love a deep story about life mixed with a bit of romance. Adding it to my TBR list.

    Uilani25(at)Hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete