Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Persuade Me Kick-Off Package

Persuade Me

About the Book

Book: Persuade Me

Author: Joanne Markey

Genre: Women’s Christian Fiction/Romance

Release date: April 5, 2022

One horrible misunderstanding. Two heartbroken people.

For seven long years, Anne Elliot of Kellynch Station quietly mourned the loss of her first love. Now that she’s finally over Fred for good, her sister offers the perfect escape: Uppercross.

This move, from one cattle station to another, offers new friends, new responsibilities, and now that she’s out from under her father’s domineering thumb, a whole new world of possibilities.

The sky is the limit.

Or maybe the sky is the perfect place for helicopter mustering pilot Fred Wentworth to spend his days. It took a while for him to regroup after their breakup, but now he’s back, he’s successful, and he’s put the past so far behind him he doesn’t even think about Anne more than a couple dozen times a day.

Life is good.

Or it was until he quite literally runs into the one person he hoped to never see again. After that, what’s a bloke to do other than rethink every lie he’d convinced himself was the truth?

Although they both seem willing to admit they were wrong all those years ago, when things take a bad turn, Anne is left to wonder… Is it too late for a reconciliation?

Persuade Me: Austen’s Persuasion meets the rugged Australian bush—plus dingoes.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

DSC_1287-571x800 Originally from Australia, Joanne Markey now lives in Ohio with her husband and seven children. When she’s not reading or writing, you might find her wandering the property with her kids in search of whatever seasonal treasure they’re trying to find.

More from Joanne

Can a book be partially autobiographical without actually being an autobiography?

Probably not. Persuade Me comes close though. Not in it’s entirety, but I did draw heavily on my own life when I wrote this book. Many of the situations that occur in the book were things that happened to me back in the late ‘90s when I worked on a cattle station as station cook. I also set the book in places where we lived—stations we lived or worked on. The autobiographical part ends there though.

As a retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the family situation in Persuade Me is patterned on the Elliot family, not my own. I was easily able to imagine a family like this living in Australia though. The family pride, boasting of being descended from free settlers, knowing how long the family has been in the country to the exact generation—were all things I ran into as a kid.

Not every Australian knows how many generations of the family have lived over there (or cares to know), but in high school there was this one girl… She knew exactly how long her family had been there, and anyone who couldn’t count as many generations of Australians as she could wasn’t as Australian as her. Other people have quite plainly offered the information that their family descended from free settlers, without a single convict in the lineage. Still others can tell the exact year their first ancestor moved to Australia. All I needed was to package all of those things into one prideful being—Mr. Elliot. He doesn’t play a huge role in the story, but his influence can be felt throughout the pages.

From there it was easy to imagine him as a grazier—a station owner—who’d run into hard times. His daughter, Anne, is the heroine who has a hidden past, a broken relationship she’d rather not remember. The hero of the story can’t exactly be a ship’s captain, but there is one occupation in the bush that does bring in a lot of money—helicopter mustering—and having gotten into that line of work his personal finances have taken a drastic change for the better. I won’t spoil the story, but the rest followed in like manner.

And then came the writing… To craft a uniquely Australian book one has to use Australian terms, phrases, and spellings. And when the author has been living outside the country for 21 years, sometimes it’s hard to remember what words go with what country! We worked it all out in the end though, and if you come across a word that looks like it’s been spelled wrong—it’s the Aussie spelling, which is correct for the setting.

I hope you enjoy this contemporary retelling of Persuasion set in the Australian bush. Happy reading!

MY REVIEW

This story is a look at two people who have a past where feelings were hurt and believing a lie that destroys a relationship. It may seem like a clear cut story but beneath the surface is an emotional journey that felt like I was reading someone’s personal diary. It isn’t written like journal entries but what is captured in words can be felt deep in your soul.

I was very intrigued by the setting of Australia and all its culture. The author does an excellent job of making readers feel like they are in the beautiful landscape and ranch where the story takes place. I do know of my family history but nothing like is described here. It is very important to Anne’s father about their family tree and borders on pride when he talks about it. What a shame he has placed so much pressure on Anne to be this kind of snobby person. It was so hard to read that her father thought that salvation was for the weak. The unraveling of her family is just beginning as we meet Anne.

I liked Anne right away and became engaged with learning more about her. I won’t go into much detail about why she is living where she is. Let’s just say that sometimes our past has a way of catching up with us. It’s funny how unresolved issues raise up to the surface when not dealt with? Anne has been so focused on being accepted by her father all her life that she may have lost herself in the process. Her father is rather rigid in his ways and has influenced Anne in areas that she should have spoken up about. This leads me to our other main character Fred.

Oh yes there is definitely a connection between Anne and Fred but it isn’t a pleasant memory for either of them. Fred is a hardworking man who flies his own chopper which helps him make a decent living. What a shame Anne’s father never thought him good enough for his daughter. To be back where sad memories are has put Fred in a mood. Being engaged and dreaming of a future is shattered when they broke up seven years ago. The emotions that start to come up for Fred is taking a toll on him. Now if he can avoid seeing Anne he may just be able to endure his stay.

Have you ever bumped into someone you have been avoiding? Well guess who that happens to and you only get one guess? Talk about running full speed into the last person you want to see. It was bound to happen for Anne and Fred but wow what a way to reacquaint yourself with your past. It was a shock and maybe a little unsettling for these two but now we are going to see if they will finally talk about their past.

With a story rich in re-examining a relationship we can see why Anne is such a people pleaser. She has always been expected to do things without complaining. All her life she has sought her father’s approval. When her heart gets broken by Fred it tears her apart. How can she ever trust again? Will she ever feel loved by anyone? I can hear her cries deep in her soul as all this pent up anguish starts to spill out. Oh how I loved the part in the story where she finally speaks up for herself.

As our journey ends I cried over so many parts of the story. How many times have you been desperate to have someone love you? I remember being told that “crying was a sign of weakness,” so I bottled up my emotions for years. As Fred and Anne talk do they find trust between each other again? The author gives us a lot to think about with a father and sister who are very opinionated who try to destroy someone’s self esteem. We see how forgiveness can be hard but needed to repair a relationship. But more importantly we witness a second chance at finding love, letting go of the past and trusting God.

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