FranceBookTours -- In Another Life

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I received a copy of In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson in exchange for a fair review. And you can enter to win a paperback copy of the novel at the bottom of this post. Make sure you enter!

I was excited to start this novel set in Languedoc, France, which is the area my husband and I plan to move next year, and now I have an avalanche of images and history about the region that I can draw on.
This novel focuses on Lia who returns to France a year after her husband died in a bicycle accident to see if she can begin living again. That's a story I would have enjoyed -- to simply see her finding solace in the countryside and culture of France, but I hadn't counted on the magical elements in the story. Lia, a historian, finds that she is wrapped in a reincarnation story that stretches back 800 years to the tumultuous past of the region when the Cathars were killed by emissaries of the Catholic church. Lia has to figure out who the good guys and bad guys are over the 800-year chasm.
This book definitely kept me guessing as to what would happen next. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, a new twist would send me in another direction. The story is full of romance across the centuries and historical mysteries solved, at least in the novel. Now I'll have to investigate it to see how much of this historical fiction was history

(Historical Fiction/Contemporary Women’s Fiction/ Fantasy/Romance) Release date: February 2, 2016 at Sourcebooks 368 pages ISBN: 978–2954168197 Website | Goodreads

SYNOPSIS

Historian Lia Carrer has finally returned to southern France, determined to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. But instead of finding solace in the region’s quiet hills and medieval ruins, she falls in love with Raoul, a man whose very existence challenges everything she knows about life–and about her husband’s death. As Raoul reveals the story of his past to Lia, she becomes entangled in the echoes of an ancient murder, resulting in a haunting and suspenseful journey that reminds Lia that the dead may not be as far from us as we think. Steeped in the rich history and romantic landscape of the Languedoc region, In Another Life is a story of love that conquers time and the lost loves that haunt us all.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo by Al Bergstein

Julie Christine Johnson is the author of the novels In Another Life (February 2016, Sourcebooks Landmark) and The Crows of Beara (September 2017, Ashland Creek Press). Her short stories and essays have appeared in several journals, including Emerge Literary Journal, Mud Season Review; Cirque: A Literary Journal of the North Pacific Rim; Cobalt, the anthologies Stories for Sendai; Up, Do: Flash Fiction by Women Writers; and Three Minus One: Stories of Love and Loss and featured on the flash fiction podcast, No Extra Words. She holds undergraduate degrees in French and Psychology and a Master’s in International Affairs. A runner, hiker, and wine geek, Julie makes her home on the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington state with her husband. In Another Life is her first novel.

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Teaser Tuesday -- In Another Life

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

I have another French book to read. This one is titled In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson and I'll be reviewing it for FranceBookTours, although I'm not sure of the day, some time in February because the book is scheduled to be released on Feb. 2.
After becoming a widow, historian Lia Carrer travels to southern France where she falls in love and becomes entangled in an old murder.
This book is set in Languedoc, the area that my husband and I hope to move to, so I'm looking

forward to this read.
Here's the intro:

Eighteen months after her husband's death, Lia Carrer returned to Languedoc like a shadow in search of light. From inside the airport terminal's glass atrium, the gray blanket over Paris looked no different from the Seattle sky she'd left behind. But the City of Light was not her final destination. The high-speed train known as the TGV departed directly from Charles de Gaulle and would carry her five hundred miles south to Narbonne in fewer than five hours.
Once aboard the TGV, Lia sank into her reserved window seat. Echoes of jet engines and loudspeakers reverberated in her head, but the sounds of train travel -- doors opening and closing with a pnuematic whoosh, air slamming between passing cars -- reassured her that her journey was nearly over. She was back on solid ground. Soothed by the slight swaying motion of the moving train. Lia gazed out the window and allowed France to absorb her. 

I really like this opening and hope the rest of the book sucks me in too.
I'm looking forward to finding out what you're reading.
I'm doing a book giveaway each week. Scroll down to enter for a chance to win A Paris Apartment this week. The drawing will be Sunday.