The Ecology of Lonesomeness
by David J. O'Brien
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
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.
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.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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.
Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting me today and I'm glad you liked the book.
If you or your readers have any questions I'd be delighted to answer them.
Best wishes
David
Who do you think should run for president now?
ReplyDeleteHello Mai,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the qestion,
For president of the US, I assume you mean?
I think Bernie Sanders should keep going as long as he can.
I don't think Jeb Bush should bother, so the country can experience something new, and as a scientist, I think any person who does not trust scientists to do their job should be disqualified straight out of the gate. And I think my character Kaleb would agree :)
David
I think that Kaleb is unable to figure out Jessie's secret because it doesn't fit into his world-view - it's just not a possibility he even considers to even dismiss it; it's not part of his paradigm. As readers we have a different world-view to him, though.
ReplyDeleteDavid