Sunday, January 31, 2021

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour: Beauty Among Ruins by J'Nell Ciesielski

Book: Beauty Among Ruins

Author: J’Nell Ciesielski

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: January 12, 2021

American socialite Lily Durham is known for enjoying one moment to the next, with little regard for the consequences of her actions. But just as she is banished overseas to England as a “cure” for her frivolous ways, the Great War breaks out and wreaks havoc. She joins her cousin in nursing the wounded at a convalescent home deep in the wilds of Scotland at a crumbling castle where its laird is less than welcoming.

Alec MacGregor has given his entire life to preserving his home of Kinclavoch Castle, but mounting debts force him to sell off his family history bit by bit. Labeled a coward for not joining his countrymen in the trenches due to an old injury, he opens his home to the Tommies to make recompense while he keeps to the shadows. But his preference for the shadows is shattered when a new American nurse comes streaming into the castle on a burst of light.

Lily and Alec are thrown together when a series of mysterious events threatens to ruin the future of Kinclavoch. Can they put aside their differences to find the culprit before it’s too late, or will their greatest distraction be falling in love?

Click here to get your copy!

I was introduced to Author J'nell Ciesielski a few months ago when

I read her book, The Socialite. I was excited to read Beauty Among

Ruins, her latest novel.

American Socialite, Lily Durham, is very carefree and frivolous.

She is "banished" to England to try to help change her ways.

She is in England and World War I breaks out. She decides to

join her cousin, who is a nurse, helping take care of the wounded.

Alec MacGregor is being taunted by others by not going into the

battlefields. He is actually trying to save his family home,

Kinclavoch Castle. Lily and Alec meant under crazy circumstances

and are now both helping each other figure out who or what is

trying to ruin Alec's efforts to save Kinclavoch Castle. The more

time they spend together, the more they realize they are liking

each other. Will they save Kinclavoch Castle? Will there be a

LOVE connection??

WOW, J'nell Ciesiekski has a writing style that really grabs the

reader from the beginning of the book. I really enjoyed this book,

the twists and turns really made it an interesting read. Lily and Alec

are great characters and make the book so good. The time period

and setting of the book also intrigued me. FANTASTIC BOOK!

Readers will not put it down until finished, so make sure you have

a few hours to sit and read!

With a passion for heart-stopping adventure and sweeping love stories, J’nell Ciesielski weaves fresh takes into romances of times gone by. When not creating dashing heroes and daring heroines, she can be found dreaming of Scotland, indulging in chocolate of any kind, or watching old black and white movies. Winner of the INSPY and the Maggie Award, she is a Florida native who now lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and lazy beagle. Learn more at www.jnellciesielski.com.

More from J’Nell

Inspiration for Beauty Among Ruins

Once again, blame it on Downton Abbey. This time on Lady Rose. She was impulsive, spoiled, a free spirit, yet with a good heart. I knew I wanted to take on the challenge of writing a heroine like her. A character who starts off one way and by the end of the book has completely charmed you over. So I started writing and everything was going great until … it wasn’t. The plot just stopped on me. No matter how hard I tried the story refused to reveal itself to me which is incredibly frustrating for someone who doesn’t like to give up once they’ve started something. But I had to. In the end, I had to put the story, affectionately titled Love on the Limp, away for several months while I wrote The Socialite. Then one day the story clicked. It was meant to be a WWI telling on the classic Beauty and the Beast story. Everything fell into place and the story and characters burst onto the page in glorious technicolor.

Lily and Alec took me by surprised with how much I fell in love with them. Bubbly Lily and brooding Alec. Never had two more opposites been so perfect for one another (at least in my writing experience). They had so many obstacles to overcome, many of them self-imposed, that I often found myself in tears over their heartaches, but golly gumdrops when they came together, boy o boy were there fireworks!

You may have also noticed that the story is set in Scotland because I happen to believe that every good story is set there. I had the privilege of staring at pictures of this breathtaking landscape for months so I could imagine the characters strolling among the heather and watching the river twist through the green moors. To me, nothing rivals the awe inspiring beauty of a certain place, and hopefully readers will feel that through these pages.