BookSparks PR Presents: Waking Up Joy

Waking Up Joy Title:  Waking Up Joy
Author:  Tina Ann Forkner
Format:  Print
Length:  336 pages
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
Release Date:   October 8th, 2014
Rating:


Behind every lost dream lies a second chance…

When adored town spinster Joy Talley ends up in a coma after a peculiar accident, she is surprised and incensed to hear what is being said in her hospital room, including plans for her funeral. When she finally wakes, her well-­‐meaning, but bossy, brothers and sisters dismiss her claims, thinking her accident has knocked her off her rocker, but Joy has never felt better, and is determined to set the past right.

Now Joy must face her darkest secret and risk reopening wounds caused by an old flame who rejected her more than twenty years ago. But taking risks brings change, as well as a new, younger man into Joy’s life, making her feel like a teenager again. Suddenly Joy’s once humdrum life is anything but boring and routine and the future beckons, exhilarating and bright.  -Goodreads


 




Excerpt from Waking Up Joy
Listening to Jimmy play piano always made me happy. Even when we were young, he had played music for me, usually the guitar that he kept in his pick-up truck, and on a few occasions, had written some songs just for me.
As he began to sing In the Sweet By and By, I wondered if he ever thought about when we were young, before everything went wrong.
Those were the best times.
Blessed assurance . . .
I listened to his voice soar from the church auditorium into the balcony and the thought I still couldn’t get out of my head niggled at my conscience. We were standing on the front porch of Momma’s house only a few days earlier, both adults, Jimmy’s graying sideburns crinkling as he gave me a sad smile. He pulled me close and I melted, utterly dissolved, in his arms. But then he had kissed the top of my head again. Not what I had in mind.
Why do you bother to hold me, Jimmy? Are you just being a friend?
But, a friend loveth at all times.
The thought spun through my head till I was dizzy, reminding me that he hadn’t loved me at all times. I couldn’t trust Jimmy. So then, why had I felt safe for just a moment in his hold when I should’ve been feeling betrayed? And why had my skin sizzled when he touched my face and then ached when I heard his heart beating, as he pulled me into his chest.
Friends don’t make each other feel that way.
Of course, Doc made me feel that way, too, but it was different. And with all the touching and hand-holding, Doc hadn’t kissed me yet. Maybe when he said he wanted to get to know me, he didn’t mean it like that after all.
How am I to know? It’s not like I’ve been practicing.
As the music of Jimmy’s voice caressed my cheek in the balcony, a glimmer of hope sputtered deep inside my chest. I replayed his arms encircling me, his breath in my hair, his kiss on top of my head, and the beating, no, thundering of his heart in my ear as I pressed my cheek to his broad chest. Maybe, I dared to imagine, Jimmy knew we couldn’t ever be just friends. Maybe he wanted more than a kiss to the top of my head, but I hadn’t done anything to let him know. The glimmer sparked just as Jimmy sang the last note of his song, reminding me of his lips brushing mine in the hospital. I tell you what, I might be naïve, but I’m not stupid. I know what electricity is.

My Thoughts
It is a proven fact that people in comas can hear the things going on around them.  A newscast from a nearby television, the soothing melody of a love song, from a radio, or the sounds of your family discussing the finer, and in some cases, the lesser points of your life.

Leading lady, Joy Talley, starts off her story as a big ball of "could have been".  There are many things that the off beat, forty-something, with a winning smile, and sunny personality could have and should have been doing for herself.
Instead, she has chosen to live her life cowed by the loss of a love, and haunted by the guilt of an incident in her past.  Before the coma...that is.

This is a book for anyone that has ever sat with a past hurt for too long.  Anyone who has ever lived
with the cloud of a long gone rain storm blocking out the sun that they know lies just beyond it.
Joy and her family are just like any other family, with bossy know-it-alls, snooty snobs, and people that you just can't help wanting to strangle.  They all mean well though...for the most part.

This uplifing and poignant journey of self discovery and forgiveness really finds its feet when Joy wakes, and sets about the task of shedding her old life for her new.
This is a wonderfully weird look at a life redefined.  A call to action to women everywhere.

This is a book for anyone   
About The Author

Tina Ann ForknerTina is a Women's Fiction writer. She is the author of WAKING UP JOY (Tule Publishing Group), as well as RUBY AMONG US and ROSE HOUSE (Random House).

“A wonderfully-paced weave of compelling characters dealing with buried secrets and second chances within the framework of a flawed but fascinating family. Tina Forkner is an insightful, engaging storyteller. If you’re a fan of Jodi Picoult, you won’t be disappointed.” ~ Susan Meissner Author of A Fall of Marigolds

“Tina Ann Forkner takes us on a hilarious yet emotionally demanding adventure in Waking Up Joy. The free-spirited Joy has an unforgettable voice that puts us solidly on her side, no matter how unconventional her choices. Waking Up Joy is a rollicking ride.” ~ Susan Schoenberger, Author of The Virtues of Oxygen

"Reading is a passion of mine, and when I find myself identifying with the characters, anxious to get to the next page to find answers to my questions, I know I’m into a good book! The daughter-mother-grandmother theme in Ruby Among Us pulled me in. Wonderful story-telling. -Jordin Sparks Music Artist & 2007 American Idol Winner

"Readers will not want this story to end.” - Awarded 4 1/2 Stars in praise for Ruby Among Us from Romantic Times Book Reviews

“A multi-generational saga of hope, regret, and the grace that brings us home, Ruby Among Us evokes an invitational sense of place, a cache of characters you enjoy knowing, and a story that rips and mends your heart all at once.” –Mary E. DeMuth, author of Watching the Tree Limbs and Daisy Chain

"Forkner’s writing transported me to California’s vineyards and wove a fascinating saga of how secrets and decisions impact the lives of following generations-and how love can redeem.”-Cindy Woodsmall, New York Times best-selling author of When the Morning Comes

"Captivating, mysterious, and romantically enticing, Forkner’s Rose House keeps the pages turning.”
–Alice J. Wisler, author of Rain Song and How Sweet It Is

Visit Tina at www.tinaannforkner.com


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