The Ecology of Lonesomeness

The Ecology of Lonesomeness

by David J. O'Brien

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Kaleb Schwartz isn't interested in the Loch Ness Monster. He'd enough cryptobiological speculation about Bigfoot while studying the Pacific Northwest forests. He's in Scotland's Great Glen to investigate aquatic food webs and nutrients cycles; if he proves there's no food for any creature bigger than a pike, then so much the better.

Jessie McPherson has returned to Loch Ness after finishing university in London, hoping to avoid the obsession with its dark waters she had when younger and first discovered lonesomeness. She knows any relationship with a scientist studying the lake is a bad idea, but something about Kaleb makes her throw caution to the depths.

When Kaleb discovers Jessie's lonesomeness refers not just to the solitude of the loch, he's faced with an ecological problem of monstrous proportions. Can he find a way to satisfy both the man and the scientist inside himself, and do the right thing?

10% of the author's royalties will be donated to WWF,
the World Wildlife Fund.

EXCERPT: 

Kaleb Schwartz stared out across the water. A rain shower worked its way through the glen toward him from Fort Augustus. Its grey, amorphous body covered the upper reaches of the lake, and would soon engulf Urquhart Castle to splatter rain upon him. He'd about ten minutes, he calculated, before he was going to get very wet. How long the shower would last, he had no idea: he'd worked out just a tiny part of the mysterious phenomenon that was the weather here in the Highlands.

Before arriving two weeks before, he'd heard about the constant rain in Scotland, but after years of fieldwork in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, Kaleb had been sure he could handle any weather the Highlands threw at him. He had good rain gear.

Nevertheless, the redwood forests of Vancouver Island had not quite prepared him for the changeability here. He'd put on and taken off his jacket and waterproof leggings twice or three times every day so far. Sometimes he wore just a t-shirt, and half an hour later was zipped up in Gore-Tex, holding the cap of his hood against a chill wind as his knuckles turned numb.

And it wasn't only the rain; the fog was just as unpredictable. The purple hills that bound the lake within their walls would sometimes simply vanish from sight. A mist would materialise and make everything further than a hundred yards away basically nonexistent.

When that happened, he might have been on the shore of Vancouver Island looking out on the Pacific, or in the widest expanse of Wyoming or Montana—a great plain in whiteout winter, stretching on for weeks of walking, or days on a train: a Tolstoian steppe. Silence would follow as if to match the invisibility, to prove nothing could make noise—everything beyond sight had actually vanished: there was no moor to hold a roaring stag, no heather to hide a calling grouse, no walls to echo the mournful cry of a red-throated loon.


My Review:

I was a little skeptical of this book because of the title, but the title is perfect once you understand it. I have to admit it didn't draw me in, though. However, I'm glad I took a chance on the book. It's beautifully written. This author has a great gift for putting readers in the scene. I could feel the mist and see the heather as well as Loch Ness itself.

There is some science in the book, but it isn't hard to comprehend.

The characters are well fleshed out. The heroine isn't a young Scottish girl who takes one look at a handsome American and loses her heart. The romance is slower, which to me was more lifelike. She does have a huge secret, though, and her American soul mate doesn't know what it is. He's a likable guy, but golly he should have figured out what her secret was.

Supporting characters lent nice depth and dimension to the book.

Give it a shot. I think you'll like it.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

David is a writer, ecologist and teacher from Dublin, Ireland, now living in Pamplona Spain. He has a degree in environmental biology and doctorate in zoology, specialising in deer biology and is still involved in deer management in his spare time. 

As an avid wildlife enthusiast and ecologist, much of David's non-academic writing, especially poetry, is inspired by wildlife and science. While his stories and novels are contemporary, they often seek to describe the science behind the supernatural or the paranormal.

His novels, Leaving the Pack and Five Days on Ballyboy Beach are available at Tirgearr Publishing. His YA novel, The Soul of Adam Short and Children's novel Peter and the Little People will be published soon by MuseitUP Publishing. He writes erotic romance under the pen name J.D. Martins.

A long-time member of The World Wildlife Fund, David has pledged to donate 10% of his royalties on all his hitherto published books to that charity to aid with protecting endangered species and habitats. 


Book Buy Links

Link to all sites:

http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OBrien_David/the-ecology-of-lonesomness.htm

Amazon US

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XLYRD1Q

Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00XLYRD1Q

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542605

Apple

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-ecology-of-lonesomeness/id995020005

Kobo

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-ecology-of-lonesomeness

Barnes and Nobel

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-ecology-of-lonesomeness-david-j-obrien/1121938675

Author Links

Tirgearr Page:  http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/OBrien_David/index.htm

Website:  https://davidjmobrien.wordpress.com/

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/David-J.-OBrien/e/B00M60M6Y0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidJMOBrien

David J. O'Brien will be awarding an eCopy of The Ecology of Lonesomeness to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the link below to enter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway