Welcome to the Celebrate Lit blog tour for If Any Reason by Courtney Walsh! First of all, I adore this cover! And the author. And the book. That’s a lot of love right there. đ Second of all, this just might be my favorite guest post ever. I encourage you to read Courtney’s words, and also pray for her. Her family has been through so much over the past year or so, and I’m sure she could use your prayers. And thirdly, check out the awesome giveaway!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Book: If For Any Reason
Author: Courtney Walsh
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: February 3, 2020
Emily Ackerman has traveled the world, her constant compass and companion a book of letters her mother left for her when she died. With no father in the picture, her momâs advice has been her only true north. But when professional failure leads Emily back to Nantucket to renovate and sell the family cottage she inherited, she wonders if her mom left advice to cover this . . . especially when her grandmother arrives to âsupervise.â And especially when her heart becomes entangled with Hollis McGuire, the boy next doorâturnedâbaseball star whoâs back on the island after a career-ending injury.
As sparks fly between her and Hollis, Emily is drawn to island life, even as she uncovers shocking secrets about the tragic accident that led to her motherâs death. With her world turned upside down, Emily must choose between allowing the voices from her past to guide her future or forging her own path forward.
Click here for your copy!
MY PERSPECTIVE
I honestly can’t say which part of this book I liked the best. The letters from Emily’s mom, Emily’s story, or her mother’s story. It all flowed together perfectly and beautifully, as Walsh is able to do with all her stories. **Sigh** I’m just sorry that it’s over. I miss Hollis, Emily and JoJo already!
Let’s start with the letters. First of all, what an inspiration. I’ve been writing letters to my daughter periodically in a journal since she was born, but more of a what’s going on in life letter. This? Well this has given me a little inspiration to make it so much more than that. Although I wish I had it 17 years ago, I’ll make the best of it. I could see Courtney’s heart in these letters – at least I believe I could. I love it when authors do stuff like this – it’s kind of like getting a sneak peak at their thoughts.
I have to say that while I enjoyed the relationship between Emily and Hollis, it was really the budding relationship between Hollis and JoJo that spoke to my heart. Probably because I have experience with an absent parent, and could see it from JoJo’s perspective. But Hollis brought this whole other point that I never really thought about before. Every side has two stories, and I loved the way Walsh brought that to life.
If For Any Reason is a sweet romance story that offers so much more. Highly recommend reading the latest novel from Courtney Walsh! I received a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtney Walsh is the author of ten inspirational novels. Her debut, A Sweethaven Summer, was a New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller. Courtney lives with her husband and three children in Illinois, where she is also an artist, theater director, and playwright.
GUEST POST BY COURTNEY WALSH
3 Bits of Wisdom Every Mother Hopes Her Daughter Cherishes
By Courtney Walsh
There are so many types of mother-daughter relationships, and Iâve discovered that in most of my novels, these relationships are explored in one way or another. My most recent book, If For Any Reason, delves a little deeper into this universal relationship, as the main characterâs only connection to her late mother is a book of letters she left behind for daughter when she died.
It was interesting to think through the advice and wisdom I would want to be sure to share with my own daughter, if for any reason I wasnât here to share it in person. Thereâs so much I would want to say, so many lessons I would want to share, but if I had to boil it down to three bits of wisdom, I think it would be these:
Ask for help when you need it.
Iâm not sure why itâs so difficult to admit we need help sometimes, but in the past year and a half, my family has faced some pretty significant medical challenges, and I learned that itâs necessary to let other people help you. One of the quickest ways to burn out and get overwhelmed is to try to do everything on your own. Now, Iâm not talking about laziness. Iâm not talking about figuring out ways to get other people to do things for you that you donât want to do, but genuine help in this journey of lifeâspiritually, mentally, physicallyâall the ways that you need to be strong and healthy. You were never meant to figure everything out on your own. And itâs less lonely when you let people in.
Mistakes are good . . . as long as you learn from them.
Okay, itâs inevitable. Youâre going to mess up. Youâre going to make a million mistakes and sometimes youâre going to really, really regret them. Itâs okay. Itâs okay to make the wrong choice now and then . . . but only if you learn from it. Because even though thereâs a lot of grace for your mistakes, there are still consequences, and if youâre not willing to learn what you did wrong, youâre just going to keep making a mess of things. Donât do that. Donât be stubborn and unmoving. There are opportunities to learn something new every single day, and there are people all around you who can help teach youâbut only if you humble yourself, realize you donât know everything, and are willing to learn. Remaining teachable is one of the greatest things you can do. Learn this lesson early, and youâll go far.
Be yourself.
This is one of the most important and most challenging lessons any of us could learn. Itâs a platitude, isnât it? Advice youâd find on the outside of a coffee mug or embroidered on a throw pillow. But itâs more than that, this whole idea of being who you are, who God created you to be. Hereâs the tricky partâhow do you know who that is? The only way I can tell is to spend time with yourself. And to not be afraid to sit in the quiet with your thoughts. Learn what God says about you so that if those ideas are challenged or someone else tries to put a label on you that you donât want, youâre armed with the truth. This will serve you well as you work to discover who you are.
The truth is, as a mother, Iâm constantly learning. As a person, Iâm constantly learning. And while these are just three bits of wisdom I hope my daughter carries with her, there are so many other lessons I hope she learns, lessons I hope I can teach her so she doesnât need to learn the hard way.
What about you? Whatâs one bit of wisdom you want to be sure to pass along to the next generation?
BLOG STOPS
Among the Reads, April 7
Remembrancy, April 7
Through the Fire Blogs, April 7
Debbieâs Dusty Deliberations, April 8
Robinâs Nest, April 8
Texas Book-aholic, April 8
Wishful Endings, April 9
debâs Book Review, April 9
Read Review Rejoice, April 9
Batyaâs Bits, April 10
Just the Write Escape, April 10
Reflections From My Bookshelves, April 11
Just Your Average reviews, April 11
Inklings and notions, April 12
Life Love Writing, April 12
Worthy2Read, April 12
Lighthouse Academy, April 13
Hallie Reads, April 13
The Meanderings of a Bookworm, April 13
A Bakerâs Perspective, April 14
Splashes of Joy, April 14
Older & Smarter?, April 15
Cultivating Us, April 15
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 15
Simple Harvest Reads, April 16 (Guest Post from Mindy Houng)
Inside the Wong Mind, April 16
Blessed & Bookish, April 17
Back Porch Reads, April 17
Writing from the Heart Land, April 17
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 18
Vicky Sluiter, April 18
For Him and My Family, April 19
Mia Reads, April 19
My Devotional Thoughts, April 19
Artistic Nobody, April 20 (Guest Post from Donna Cline)
Bookishly Beverly, April 20
GIVEAWAY
To celebrate her tour, Courtney is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Barnes & Nobles gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/f92f/if-for-any-reason-celebration-tour-giveaway
If you could instill some wisdom to your daughter/niece/cousin/friend/church member, what would it be?
I enjoyed the post, thank you.
I’m not really feeling very wise right now, but one thing I’ve told my daughter is we can always be kind.
I would want them to know that God is always with us no matter how dark it seems.
Put God first and to be true to herself.
Awesome post!
I would instill in my daughter’s that they can do anything they put their minds to. Hopefully, I already have.