On Tour with All Is Fair by Dee Garretson and Meet the Author

What an interesting book, for the period is set in and the plot!

The book is All Is Fair by Dee Garretson, published a couple of days ago in the Historical, Romance, Young Adult genre.

Lady Mina Tretheway knows she’s destined for greater things than her fancy boarding school, where she’s being taught to be a proper English lady. It’s 1918, and war is raging across Europe. Unlike her father and brother, who are able to assist in the war effort, Mina is stuck sorting out which fork should be used with which dinner course.

When Mina receives a telegram that’s written in code, she finally has her chance to do something big. She returns to her childhood home of Hallington Manor, joined by a family friend, Lord Andrew Graham, and a dashing and mysterious young American, Lucas. The three of them must band together to work on a dangerous project that could turn the tide of the war.

Thrilled that she gets to contribute to the war effort at least, Mina jumps headfirst into the world of cryptic messages, spycraft, and international intrigue. She, Lucas, and Andrew have to work quickly, because if they don’t succeed, more soldiers will disappear into the darkness of war.

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35435001-all-is-fair?ac=1&from_search=true

Purchase: Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SVk0nM

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-is-fair-dee-garretson/1128330861?ean=9781250168696#/

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/all-is-fair/id1406396783?mt=11

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/all-is-fair-1 r?ac=1&from_search=true

Chatting with the author

Dee writes contemporary, science fiction and historical adventure stories for a wide range of ages. Her books have been chosen as Junior Library Guild selections, the Scholastic Book Club, and have been nominated for numerous state awards lists. In addition to books published under her own name, she also writes for the Boxcar Children series. Connect with her on twitter at @deegarretson or find out more about her books at deegarretson.com

She came by today, and told us what she likes about the period she set the book in.

Writing in a time of upheaval, like 1918 during WW1, provides so many opportunities for a writer because every single character will be influenced by outside events. I like to write stories where people are tested by things they can’t control and explore the different ways they react. And of course embarking on a romantic relationship would be a tremendous leap of faith during such a time, especially for a young woman like Mina who has lived a very sheltered life.
I set the story in a wealthy household, partly just because it’s fun to think about living that way, and because the presence of live-in servants adds some interesting story aspects to explore. I like that fact that people in that setting were very tied into their communities, and everyone knew everyone else. I know there would be a distinct lack of privacy, but it would have been nice to know that you had a place among a big group of people.
One nice part about a story set in 1918 is that the lack of technology would have meant people connected in different ways. I miss that people no longer write letters to each other, though I know at the time it would be frustrating to have to wait on news. I love setting a story when there were no cell phones! They are the bane of any adventure writer’s existence. It’s very hard to convince a reader that your character is in mortal peril if they can just whip out their phone and call for help.
Cars and planes were still new and exciting. I like to think about how exhilarating it would have felt for a young woman of that time period to just break out and do something totally unexpected like trying to drive a car. And imagine flying for the very first time in those open cockpit planes, especially when it was not something many women did. That’s part of the fun of writing historical fiction-figuring out what could be the firsts and incorporating them in the story.

Thank you, Dee! To keep in touch with Dee, use these links:

http://deegarretson.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3100494.Dee_Garretson

https://www.facebook.com/DeeGarretsonBooks/

https://twitter.com/deegarretson

Also, to know more about the Book or the Author follow the Tour. You can find the schedule here (http://xpressobooktours.com/2018/11/13/tour-sign-up-all-is-fair-by-dee-garretson/)