Friday, June 3, 2022

Souls Astray

About the Book

Book: Souls Astray

Author: Kellyn Roth

Genre: Historical Women’s Fiction

Release date: April 5, 2022

KC1 - Souls Astray Adele Collier has sought a carefree lifestyle ever since her tragic childhood. Determined to never allow anyone or anything to control her life or emotions again, she consistently seeks distraction in gaiety. But shaking her ghosts isn’t as easy as she’d like.

Troy Kee has been alone in the world since the Great War took his parents and left him in charge of his younger sister. When she marries, he’s left to seek after his goal of a healthy, complete family. But how can he focus on his dream when trouble plagues his family vineyard?

When Adele and Troy meet, a whirlwind romance begins—but can two lost souls have a healthy relationship?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Kellyn Roth is a historical romance & women’s fiction author who writes about the empty places where hope has the most room to grow. Her novels include the inspirational Victorian family saga, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, and the Kees & Colliers series, which follows a broken family in the tumultuous years of the first half of the 20th century.

Kellyn is a student of the Author Conservatory and a writing coach. When not building her author career, she is likely getting lost somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with her friends, watching period dramas and facetious comedies, or spending time with her husband.

More from Kellyn

Hello everyone!

First, I wanted to thank you all for checking out this blog tour! In this fast-paced world, the fact that you took a moment out of your day to read this is actually a pretty big honor. I appreciate you checking out my little book and taking the time to read my introduction.

Souls Astray was the book I wrote when my granddad died. We were very close, and at the time he died, I was a lonely teenager, recently graduated from high school and unsure of my next step. I was heartbroken by his death – it felt like the nail in the coffin of my family, and it felt a little like he was the last person who believed in me.

This wasn’t true, but my, did it feel my dramatic self with lots of thoughts! I poured those into the book, writing it all in about three weeks, and then I spent the next few years revising it.

This book (and the other novels in its series) are of a different tone than my usual books. Even though I delve into difficult topics in all my stories – such as grief and loss, miscarriage, assault, serious mental health issues – this story somehow ended up with a tone I don’t think I could replicate if I tried.

This was the story I wrote out of my own grief and desperation, my own feeling that my world was falling apart. It’s like sharing a piece of my own heart to share it. Though Adele and Troy had very different journeys than mine, which is pretty peachy compared to their lives, I still relate to them.

This was also the first book I didn’t dedicate to a real person – the dedication ended up being inspired by a song, actually, which was comforting to me during this time: God Only Knows by For King & Country. “For the lonely, for the ashamed, the misunderstood, and the ones to blame. What if we could start over?”

Thank you again for your time!

Kellyn Roth

MY REVIEW

The book is a look at two people from different backgrounds that find each other. It is an enjoyable journey where I found myself understanding how Adele as a child felt unwanted. Her favorite brother goes off to war and completely devastates her when he doesn’t return, It is important to note how much Adele depended on her brother emotionally. I sometimes thought she idolized him a little which was unhealthy. Her mother is quite cruel to her and I cringed every time they encounter each other.

Adele going out on her own was a cry for acceptance and she searched for men who would love her. It was sad how she wandered from relationship to relationship with little care about herself. There is one moment in the story where Adele goes to church with her friend that upset me. I couldn’t believe these women would gather around Adele after service and belittle her. To be told you are not welcome at church broke my heart. In her mind she thinks that God will never accept her and will she will never feel His unconditional love.

Troy has seen his share of tragedies and has raised his little sister Lola, after his parents died. They have a close relationship and at times Troy is very overprotective of her. It was so hard for him to accept the marriage between his sister and new husband and is worried about her constantly. I think he thought he was the only one who could keep her safe.

When Adele and Troy meet I wasn’t sure if this was a healthy relationship for either one. Adele falls quickly for Troy and is ready to give herself to him before marriage. I was shocked by her attitude but understood that for her it was how she felt loved. To be rejected by him would destroy her in a way. Now she began to worry that he would think less of her. Did she just destroy a relationship that could have been the right one for her?

Troy is maybe a little taken aback by Adele’s forwardness but assures her that they must wait til marriage like God had ordained. When he finds out that Adele is not a Christian he knows that marriage is out of the question. He can’t be married to a woman who doesn’t believe in God. What they do next really shocked me.

The story illustrates rejection, bitterness, acceptance, listening to God and finding happiness. It give readers a look at a couple who decide to follow their desire and try to make their relationship work in spite of red flags that should not have been ignored. Adele has such bitterness in her heart that forgiving her mother seems unreasonable. Troy has compromised his faith to be with Adele and now faces questions he is afraid to answer. Can two people find happiness that are not equally yoked? I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see where the author takes these characters.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.