Carry Me Home (Blue Wren Shallows #1) By Dorothy Adamek
Crabapple House Publishing, Dec. 1, 2015
Reviewed By Diana Flowers
~5 stars~
(No Spoilers!)
Crabapple House Publishing, Dec. 1, 2015
Reviewed By Diana Flowers
~5 stars~
(No Spoilers!)
Romance Down Under
In her debut novel Carry Me Home, Dorothy Adamek pens a poignant, heartrending novel of a young woman's quest for love—a journey that transports her to a land both fearsome and beauteous with its raw terrain of red mud, heat, and incessant rain—contrasting with gorgeous blue wrens, purple-petaled Little Noonflowers, wild roses, and the glorious shell-covered beaches of the land down under...Australia.
Finella Mayfield travels from England to Phillips Island, Australia, anticipating her future as a preacher's bride in an prearranged marriage. Instead Finella is met by Shadrach Jones, a poor farmer whose only desire is to grow chicory, mustard, and care for his simple minded sister, Molly. Unbeknownst to Finella, Shad has made a promise to a dying friend to marry her, but how will he ever accomplish that feat? When all that greets Finella when she arrives at his dwelling is a crude mud hut surrounded by red mud and puddles, with no oven and nothing but filth inside. She is used to fancy things and her destiny is to be the wife of a preacher...or is it?
In her lovely lyrical prose, Dorothy Adamek has written a stunning debut novel that nearly took my breath away! Have you ever finished a book and couldn't stop thinking about it for hours? This unforgettable story truly had that affect on me! I'm astounded that this is Ms. Adamek's first novel as her impeccable and descriptive phraseology is that of a much more seasoned author. Not only is it a treasure trove of Australian info for all of you "land down under" fans like me, but also a compelling, angst-filled, tender love story with plenty of romantic tension! Sweet Molly will undoubtedly steal your heart as she did Finella's...and mine. And there's nothing quite as captivating as a complex hero who will do anything for the woman he loves. With an inspirational thread of forgiveness and redemption certain to bring tears to your eyes...be sure to put Carry Me Home on your Christmas "hint" list this year!
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| Little Noonflowers in Australia |
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| Australian Blue Wren |
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| Introducing Dorothy Adamek! |
This book may be purchased through Amazon.
GIVEAWAY: Dorothy Adamek has generously offered to give away a paperback copy of Carry Me Home to one blessed commenter! To be eligible for the drawing, please leave your email address written (at) and (dot) to protect you from spammers.
Thank you, Diana! What a blessing you've been to me, today. So glad you enjoyed Carry Me Home. It's a pleasure to share a little piece of Australia with friends from around the world. xx
ReplyDeleteEver since I watched The Thornbirds years ago, I have been fascinated with Australian settings. I love books where I learn something, but am having fun while doing so. Nothing like history class. lol I knew about kangaroos and Koalas, but the habits of the blue wrens fascinated me. Thank you for sharing a lot of Australia with us!
DeleteWow Dorothy, what wonderful high praise from Diana for your beautiful debut!! As a fellow Aussie, I'm so proud of you!! I've always thought you had a wonderful way with words and honestly, I truly can't wait to read your novel!! Especially after that high recommendation from my cohort above. Awesome review, Diana! :) I do so love a book that stays with me long after I reach 'The End'. Congratulations Dotti!!
ReplyDeleteHi Diana, thanks so much. I'm thrilled to make another Aussie proud. I hope you get to visit Melbourne one day soon so we can enjoy a coffee together and long chat. Bless you for your encouragement. xx
DeleteThank you, NOELA! You will love reading Dorothy's book -- lotsa romantic tension! Plus you always read books with settings from other countries, why not one from yours? ;) Thx, Aussie girl!
DeleteDIANA, Thank you for this captivating review. I dream of visiting the "land-down-under"! I would love to travel with Finella. Dorothy, congratulations on your debut! It sounds like a winner!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, CARYL! Even the mud was fascinating! lol Dorothy truly does have a way with words. Hoping for a win for you, my friend!
DeleteHi Caryl, so good to see you here. It's been a pleasure to share this story with friends from all over the world. I hope you get to read it soon. :)
DeleteWow! What a beautiful review Diana! I'm so excited to be reading Dorothy's novel soon (I have a copy coming my way - so no need to enter me in the giveaway). The imagery from both Dorothy and Diana's review gave will stay with me for some time. There's beauty in the little noon flowers and blue wrens for sure, but something about a mud hut and red mud also gets a visual sense too. Not to mention how gorgeous the cover is! And who doesn't want to travel to Australia, even if it's through reading a book? I can't wait to read about Finella and Shad and what adventures await them (and me). Thanks! Annie
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, ANNIE! You will feel what Finella feels when she visits all that mud for the 1st time. Poor girl! I think that is Dorothy's daughter on the cover, but she'll correct me if I'm wrong. She's beautiful and they could pass for sisters instead of mother and daughter!
DeleteHI Annie, I'm so thrilled with Diana's review. She really made this little Aussie author's heart GLAD. I hope you get to 'visit ' Australia in person or via this story, very soon. :)
DeleteWonderful review Diana. I love books that stay with you long after you read them and Carry Me Home sounds like it will do just that. The cover is absolutely beautiful! I would like to visit Australia some day. Thanks for including the picture of the beautiful Australian Blue Wren, I am a bird watcher so like to see bird pictures and learn more about birds I don't have in my backyard.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your book Dorothy Adamek.
Blessings,Tina
Thank you, TINA! I was so intrigued by what the Blue Wrens do that I just HAD to include their pic!
DeleteHi Tina... that's my beautiful daughter on the cover! (Minus her head, but that's a story for another time) Sophie is the cover model for all three books in this series. It was a pleasure to spend the day on Phillip Island taking the photography for this cover. You can read more about that on my author website. :)
DeleteI keep hearing more and more about this book, and I'm pretty convinced I need to get a copy! Thanks for the lovely review to cement my feelings (and the giveaway opportunity!)
ReplyDeleterdalquis AT css DOT edu
I'm glad I helped convince you some more, RACHAEL! You need to get a copy! lol Maybe you'll win it here! Good luck!
DeleteHi Rachael, I'm so glad word is spreading about Carry Me Home and I hope you get a copy of your own very soon. :)
DeleteAustralia is one of my dream vacation spot. I pray that I will be able to plan a getaway there soon.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds promising and very different from what I am usually drawn to read.
Sonnetta_jones(at)hotmail(dot).com
Hi, SONNETTA! What a lovely name you have and it should be in a book! That's what I loved so much about this book...besides all the things I talked about in my review. It was so different and I was ready for a change! I'm really looking forward to the next book in the Blue Wren Shallows series!
DeleteHi Sonette, Diana is right! What a lovely name. I am so glad it's the 'different' aspect of this story which has captured you. Australia REALLY is a different part of the world and I've got many stories to tell of it's wild and romantic early days. I hope you get the chance to read Carry Me Home, very soon :)
DeleteOops... author correct snatched away some of your name. So sorry, Sonnetta! xx
DeleteDon't you just love auto correct? Some of the words...mm mm. If I didn't proofread it wouldn't be good. Even then you miss a few. lol
DeleteThank you for the compliment. I have to be careful when I submit anything with my name. If I do not win I will put it on my TBR pile.
DeleteWhat a great review. I have had this book on my to read list for a while now. Hope I win it, but if not I will get it from the library. I am very interested in new writers.
ReplyDeleteprincessdebbie1_2000(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hi, DEBBIE! Thank you. I know you will be surprised like I was that this is a new author's writing! Hoping for a win for you!
DeleteHi Debbie, I hope you find you way to Carry Me Home very soon. Thanks for entering. Good luck. :)
DeleteFabulous review!!
ReplyDeleteLattebooks at hotmail dot com
Thx, SUSAN!! Tossing your name in my cyberhat here! ;)
DeleteHi Susan!! Lovely to see you here. Good luck in the book draw. :)
DeleteIt is hard to believe it has been three years since Dottie and I exchanged critiques! I was blessed with the opportunity to read this manuscript and critique it! And was I shocked to see her hero's name was the same as my colonial American hero's! They were both Shadrachs! That was one of my ancestor's first names and I'd used it for a scout in my novella "Mercy in A Red Cloak" which will be releasing in 2017.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review, Diana!
Such a great little writer, CARRIE! I'm sure you are celebrating this release with her then. I love the name Shadrach...it was in the Bible, too!
DeleteHi Carrie, yes it's been a while since then! Early congratulations on your release for 2017! I'm sure readers will be happy to find there's another Shadrach out there. :)
DeleteI enjoyed your review. It made me want to read the book. I love to travel through books. I learn so much.
ReplyDeletefishingjanjan[at]aol[dot]com
Me too, JAN! I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Australia, but sure got alot of mud on my boots! (wink)
DeleteHi Jan, me too! Reading is the best way to move around the globe and still stay cozy comfy in our favourite armchair. Hope you get to 'travel' to Australia, very soon. :)
DeleteNow this is a serious question, Diana, have you taken a writing class ? You pen the most Eloquent reviews I've seen. All authors need you around to write a review for them because you would sell a lot of books for them. You should be the one writing the blurb on the back of book covers. I don't believe I'e had the privilege of reading a book taking place in Australia but I'd love to start with this beautiful one. I am so excited to see this is just the first book in a series, more goodies for me to read. And the name Crabapple House Publishing, it has nothing to do with the book or review but you've just got to love that name. I mean how cute is that ? Thanks for the beautiful review, Diana.
ReplyDeleteDeanne Patterson Cnnamongirl at aol dot com
What a sweet thing to say, DEANNE! Thank you! I have never taken any writing classes, but I have been reading ever since I was a young child. I never write a review w/out praying first so I give God all the credit. I read the book, pray, and write what I feel from my heart. It's so easy to write reviews for a novel such as this! You'll just love the Australian setting...so much more exciting from an author who actually lives there!
DeleteAnd yes, gotta love Crabapple! Especially if you are not an apple lover like I am. LOL
Thank you for uplifting me with your comments this morning! Hugs!
Hi Deanne, I agree with you on Diana's beautiful wordsmithing!
DeleteCrabapple House is the name of the house we live in, here in Melbourne. We're on a corner and there's 7 crabapples right around us. Hence the name. And hence, the name for my publishing company. :)
I'm so glad you like it. I really do too! Very close to my heart. :)
Thank you, Dotti! Love that word "wordsmithing." Oh, that's so cool about the Crabapple name! I may just learn to like apples after all. What's so cute about it is that here in America we use the term "crabapple" to mean a cranky, grouchy person. I didn't even know there was such a thing as real crabapples. I KNOW there are no grouchy peeps in your house, Dorothy. ;)
DeleteAs someone who lives Down Under this is a must read for me.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Yes, indeed it is, MARY! You will enjoy this one, I'm sure!
DeleteHi Mary, how lovely to see another Aussie here! Good luck in the draw. :)
DeleteThis is the second 'alert' I've seen about this book. I say alert because it has all my reader spidey senses standing on end. You've convinced me that I MUST read this book. You have a strong power of persuasion, Diana! And I love the Australian setting as well. Armchair traveling here I come. Oh and the cover -- divine.
ReplyDeletehaha Spidey senses! Love it! You are such a kick, KAV. Hmm, I know another lady whose powers of persuasion have caused me to buy many a book, but I won't mention any names. ahem! The cover and the setting -- divine! Got your name in the hat, my friend!
DeleteHi Kav, I'm really glad your 'alert' is ringing! I hope you get to 'travel' your way through Carry Me Home very soon. Good luck in the draw. :)
DeleteI've heard so many wonderful things about this book, I can't wait to read it for myself!!
ReplyDeletealander87 at allcom dot net
And I hope you get a chance ASAP, ABBY! Such a wonderful book and I'm so blessed to have been able to read it before the 2016 books come rolling in. Good luck!
DeleteSounds like a good book. kamundsen44ATyahooDOTcom.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim. Glad you could stop by and enter. :)
DeleteJust tossed your name in my cyber-hat, KIM! ;) Thank you!
DeleteThat's a well-written review, providing just enough plot to intrigue the potential reader! I'm ready to return to the Down-Under, having just finished a WWII novel (The Nightingale) & having greatly enjoyed the sister saga, Bittersweet, on audio earlier this year. Congratulations, Dorothy, on becoming a published author! I know first-hand how much energy goes into first the creative-process, & then the iterations of editing! (The non-fiction book I co-authored published earlier this month, "Beyond Embarrassment" - a consumer health book from the patient-perspective on maintaining continence". - Julia
ReplyDeletebiosleuth(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you, JULIA! I have seen the book Nightingale but haven't had the pleasure of reading it. Bittersweet I have not heard of. I can't wait to return down under with Dorothy's next book in this series!
DeleteHi Julia, I'm so pleased you're keen for an Australian visit. As an author, that just makes my day, to know my location has already captured your interest. I hope you get to read Carry Me Home very soon. :)
DeleteKnowing both Diana and Dotti as friends makes this all so surreal. First of all, Diana, you have done another outstanding heart-touching review of Dotti's first book. I know that when I begin reading it, the story will unfold before my eyes as if it were a movie and stay in my heart for a long while afterward. It is also great to see other comments here from ladies I know and respect as well. Dotti, congratulations on your book and the promise of more to come in this series is exciting. Thank you for sharing your God-given talents with all of us - your readers! Joyce * Heartwings e-mail: joyce1510(d0t)jrg(at)gmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sweet words, JOYCE. Your heart will be touched by this inspiring novel and remain with you long after. I wish they WOULD make it into a movie! It would be awesome! Thank you for taking the time to stop by during this busy hectic season!
DeleteHi Joyce.... and Diana.... a movie would be SO AMAZING! I'm really glad you popped in, Joyce. Diana has excelled herself in getting the word out on Carry Me Home. I'm quite overwhelmed by her generosity. :)
DeleteI certainly can't resist reading "Carry Me Home" after reading some of my fave book descriptions: "poignant, heartrending, angst filled, tender love story, an inspirational thread of forgiveness and redemption certain to bring tears to your eyes"?? A "treasure trove of Australian info" and mention of a "simple minded sister" sealed the deal, and has me yearning to learn more of Shad and Finella's story - thanks for your beautiful, enticing review, Diana.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Dorothy - on your debut novel and what promises to be a touching, inspiring read!!
P.S. Love that you have one of my fave names: Dorothy, my mother's name!!
My favorite aunt's name was Dorothy also, BONNIE! Thank you...I'm so glad you enjoyed the review. I hope you get a chance to read this one soon, Bonnie. You won't regret picking it up. Blessings, dear friend!
DeleteHi Bonnie... Dorothy was my grandmother's name! There's three of us cousins all named in her honour. When we were younger, there was Big Dorothy, Little Dorothy, and Melbourne Dorothy. I was Melbourne Dorothy, (still am) but in the writing world, I also go by the name, Dotti . ;)
DeleteCongrats to Kav Rees who won a copy of Carry Me Home by Dorothy Adamek! Thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments and book talk! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for allowing me to visit, Diana. It's been fun getting to know more about your blog followers. Congratulations to Kav. Hope she enjoys reading Carry Me Home. :)
DeleteThanks for the chance! ☺ benipayomaryrose(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDelete