Today I'm pleased to be hosting the book tour for
Julia's Gifts, the new romance by Ellen Gable.
Do you enjoy Hallmark type stories? If so, you’ll love
Julia’s Gifts, a new historical Catholic
romance by veteran author Ellen Gable. As the story opens in December 2017, Philadelphia
resident Julia Marie Murphy is twenty years old and buying a pocket watch for
her beloved. The only problem is that she doesn’t know who that person is yet.
Meanwhile, Major Peter Winslow is fighting for Canada in France in World War I.
In March 1918, both Julia and her best friend Ann sign up to
be medical aid workers and are sent to France to help the war effort. All too
quickly they are immersed in the horrors of war. Major Winslow arrives to
interrogate a German officer at the hospital where Julia is working on her
first day and finds her painfully slow at her task. Their initial meeting is far
from pleasant, but as life continues to throw the two together, their feelings
toward each other soften.
Gable has done a first-rate job of describing the painful
injuries and horrors of war. Julia’s Catholic faith is an important theme in
the book, but it is woven into the story and does not come off as preachy. While
the ending is never in doubt, this is a sweet romance perfect for enjoying on a
lazy afternoon.
Julia’s Gifts is the
first book in the Great War, Great Love series. After reading this one, you’ll
be looking forward to Gable’s next books!
December 17, 1917
The bustling
streets of Center City Philadelphia shimmered with electric lights, heralding
that Christmas was near. Julia Marie Murphy lifted her head and gazed upward.
The night sky was filled with snow clouds, the air brisk. She pulled on her
gloves and buttoned the top of her coat. Her thoughts turned to her future
husband. Dear God in heaven, please protect my beloved.
Tens of
thousands of American men had already enlisted to fight in this “Great War.”
The gentlemen that Julia knew seemed anxious to join, and Julia thanked God
that her three brothers were too young to fight.
In a few short
weeks, it would be 1918. All of her
father’s friends and acquaintances expected the war to end soon, hopefully
before the middle of the year. But 1918
held far more significance for Julia.
This would be the year that she would turn 21.
She approached
Lit Brothers department store, admiring the display windows that were outlined
with colored electric lights. Julia was thankful that it was Monday. If it were
Thursday, the ban on electric lights (in support of the war effort) would mean
the windows would be dark.
Julia stared,
transfixed, through the window at the tall display. Shimmery red fabric hung
from a back wall, a beautiful sterling silver pocket watch lay on top of a
cylindrical pedestal. Her eyes widened
when she saw the price tag: $12.25, almost 20 percent of her annual salary. But
it was beautiful and every man needed one. The price notwithstanding,
this would be a perfect gift for her beloved. Yes, it was extravagant,
especially during wartime. Yes, there were less expensive items she could
purchase. It didn’t matter. This was the ideal gift.
After
purchasing it, she took it to the engraving department on the second floor.
Behind the counter, the tall, lanky middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache
smiled. “What would you like engraved on this?”
“To my beloved,
next line, all my love, Julia.”
His eyebrows
lifted. “I’m certain the gentleman would
prefer to have his Christian name engraved on this lovely timepiece. Don’t you agree?”
“Well, yes, I
imagine he would. But I don’t really
know his name or who he is yet.”
The man’s mouth
fell open and he stuttered.
“I’m..I’m…s…sorry, Miss. I…I don’t understand. You’ve bought an expensive pocket watch for
someone you don’t know?”
Julia
sighed. She shouldn’t have said
anything.
“Please just
use the words I gave you.”
The man nodded
and regarded Julia with an expression of suspicious curiosity, a look one might
give a person in an asylum.
“How long will
it take?”
“For the
engraving? Ten days. Sorry, Miss, but you won’t have it in time
for Christmas.”
“That’s all
right.” Julia turned and walked a few steps and heard the salesman mumble, “Now
there’s an odd girl. Buying a gift for
someone she doesn’t know. Tsk tsk.”
Sighing, she
checked her own wristwatch and hurried out of the store to begin the
three-block walk to her trolley stop. If
she didn’t get there in time for the five p.m. streetcar, she would be waiting
half an hour.
This year Julia
was determined that she would meet her beloved, the man for whom she had been
praying these past four years. Why hadn’t she met him yet? Some of her friends were already married. Her
beloved was out there and she would
find him. Yes, 1918 would also be the
year that she would meet her beloved.
Each December,
Julia wondered what she would buy her beloved for Christmas. Last year, she searched
different stores but found nothing special. She finally discovered — and bought
— a brown leather pocket journal at a specialty store at Broad and Bigler
Streets. She didn’t know whether her beloved would be the sort to write in one,
but it seemed like an appropriate gift, especially since it had a delicate leaf
embossed on the cover. The year before, she had bought a sterling silver
Miraculous Medal because her beloved would be Catholic.
That first
year, her mother suggested that she begin praying for her future husband. After a few weeks of doing so, Julia felt
inspired to do more. It had been the week before Christmas, so she decided that
she would buy or make him a Christmas gift each year until they met. With no job and no money that year, Julia
knit him two pairs of socks, one blue-green and one green-brown, with
finely-made yarn that her mother had given her.
The fact that
she had made or bought gifts, and had spent hard-earned money for her future
husband, had not pleased her father as he thought it too impractical and
sentimental. Her mother, however, had declared that it was a beautiful gesture.
Of course, if Mother knew how much she had spent on the most recent gift, she
was pretty certain her mother wouldn’t be happy.
Ellen Gable is an award-winning
author, Marketing Director
for Live
the Fast,
self-publishing book coach, speaker, publisher,
NFP teacher, book
reviewer and instructor in the Theology of the Body for Teens. However, the
roles she loves the most are being wife to her husband and mother to their five
sons, ages 18-30. Originally from New Jersey,
Ellen lives with her husband of 35 years, James Hrkach, in Pakenham, Ontario Canada.
If you are interested in checking out the other spots on the blog tour, please visit:
November 4 Karen Kelly Boyce
November 12 You are here!
November 22 Elizabeth Kathryn
Gerold Miller
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