YvonneWhen author Tiffany McDaniel contacted me with her invitation for Fiction Books to read and review her debut novel ‘The Summer That Melted Everything’, I was completely taken in by the title and assumed it would have a romantic storyline …. Wrong!
A more darkly brooding and deeply troubling premise than I would ever have envisaged, awaited me.
The book is already going down a storm with both Amazon and Goodreads reviewers, who have awarded it some excellent ratings and reviews.
Tiffany herself, prefers to maintain a low profile, so far shunning social media and with the most basic of personal profiles. She has however, agreed to a pre-determined Q&A post, which will be published very soon and makes for some interesting read … so be sure to stop by and say Hi!
…
‘THE SUMMER THAT MELTED EVERYTHING‘
Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil.
Sal seems to appear out of nowhere – a bruised and tattered thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be the devil himself answering an invitation. Fielding Bliss, the son of a local prosecutor, brings him home where he’s welcomed into the Bliss family, assuming he’s a runaway from a nearby farm town.
When word spreads that the devil has come to Breathed, not everyone is happy to welcome this self-proclaimed fallen angel. Murmurs follow him and tensions rise, along with the temperatures as an unbearable heat wave rolls into town right along with him. As strange accidents start to occur, riled by the feverish heat, some in the town start to believe that Sal is exactly who he claims to be. While the Bliss family wrestles with their own personal demons, a fanatic drives the town to the brink of a catastrophe that will change this sleepy Ohio backwater forever.
Clicking on the book’s cover image will link you directly to its Amazon ‘buy’ page.
…
TIFFANY McDANIEL
An Ohio native, Tiffany McDaniel’s writing is inspired by the rolling hills and buckeye woods of the land she knows. She is also a poet, playwright, screenwriter, and artist.
The Summer that Melted Everything is her debut novel.
Catch up with all Tiffany’s latest news on her website
There is also a You Tube promo video, put together by Tiffany and her friends, to help raise awareness of the book
…
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week. Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Mailbox Monday now has a permanent home, where links may be added each week. So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for our three new joint administrators, after all, we all like to receive them … ‘Mailbox Monday’
Leslie of ‘Under My Apple Tree’
Serena of ‘Savvy Verse & Wit’
Vicki of ‘I’d Rather Be At The Beach’
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… You never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
…
Probably not for me but I can see where a lot of readers would love it! Have a good week, Yvonne.
Hi Mary,
Thank you for stopping by this week. Taking the time to leave a comment, even though this book may not be one for you, means a lot to me. It wouldn’t do if we all enjoyed reading from the same genres!
‘Happy Reading’ 🙂
Oh, I saw this one somewhere recently. Sounds wonderful. Hope you enjoy it.
http://www.thebusymomsdaily.com/2016/07/mailbox-monday-july-11.html
Hi Cheryl,
Tiffany is really working hard to get the word out there about the book and I have seen some amazing promotional posts around the blogging circuit.
The early ratings and reviews have also been very positive, so things are looking good for this great sounding debut novel.
Thanks for visiting today, I always appreciate your comments 🙂
We’re having a summer that could melt everything this year. I’m very curious about Sal and where he came from. I hope this book is as good as it sounds.
Hi Kathy,
Summer has yet to arrive here in the UK, however I am not complaining, although I have to say that very quietly, as everyone else is not quite so happy!
The sun is shining, although there are still plenty of rain showers around and whilst I think the temperatures are ideal, if I am being totally honest, it is rather spring like or autumnal, rather than high summer, which suits me just fine!
I am also wondering if Sal is for real and I am waiting to find out exactly what sort of invitation he has accepted. Also, I have a feeling I am going to enjoy having the book narrated some 40 years into the furure, by one of the protagonists.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope that you received some new ‘goodies’ of your own 🙂
I would likely pass on this one, but it sounds like people really like it. Enjoy! 2 Kids and Tired Books MM
Hi Holly,
It definitely wouldn’t do if we all enjoyed reading the same kinds of stories, think how boring that would be 🙂
The two genres which I seldom read from, are fantasy and science fiction, although just because they are not my favourites, doesn’t mean to say that my fellow bloggers may not enjoy them. I therefore strive to accept almost all promotional requests, even though I warn the authors that there will be no review at the end of it, if the story falls into either of those genres.
It is very hard to say exactly where ‘The Summer That Melted Everything’ fits into the reading spectrum, but it is oddly intriguing; enough so, that I want to read it, just to find out what it is all about!
Thanks for taking the extra time to leave your comment, it is genuinely appreciated 🙂
I’m not so sure this is one for me, but I might reconsider after your author Q&A. I do love the title!
Hi Kelly,
Tiffany’s Q&A session promises to reveal a little more about the ‘whys and wherefores’ of her thinking behind ‘The Summer That Melted Everything’, as it is a stock reply she issues to press etc. and her questions and answers have therefore been well prepared and considered. I can imagine that Tiffany would have come up with some great copt for a guest post, but alas, this was not to be!
So many of the Goodreads reviewers have made the same comments, about needing some time to consider their reviews, before committing pen to paper, so the book is obviously provoking much thought and soul searching amongst readers, with their final determinations being on the whole, rating this debut novel as excellent.
In fact, one fellow author wrote …
“I’ve never read anything like this before. It is that extremely rare debut novel by a young writer with an original voice, the daring to listen to it, and the skill to deliver. This voice is fully formed and unambiguous.” …
I have still to be fully convinced that the premise is going to work for me, but I’m going to give it my best shot 🙂
Might not be for me either,but still curious.
Hi Mary Ann,
Curious is a great word to describe why this book is sat in my TBR pile. I have never come across quite such a strong and possibly controversial premise for a debut novel, a very brave move by a newly published author 🙂
Thanks for the visit and ‘Happy Reading’ 🙂
Sounds interesting although I’m often not keen on the biblical way of categorising people… but with this one I do want to know more.
Hi Cleo,
This book has provoked much head scratching and soul searching amongst readers and reviewers, at both Goodreads and Amazon; with many needing time between finishing reading the book and actually publishing their review, in order to assimilate the story and get their thoughts in order, before putting pen to paper!
For a debut novel, it really does seem like quite an adventurous and possibly controversial premise, partially for the reason you cite in your comment, but also for some of the many difficult social and interpersonal elements the story appears to touch on.
‘The Summer That Melted Everything’, definitely sounds as though it is going to be a book I am either going to love or hate, there’s no middle ground option here … 🙂
Totally intrigued by the cover which gives nothing away. And as for the extract you shared …. I love the premise, Sal having captured my imagination.
Hi Tracy,
Well,let’s face it, summers hot enough to melt everything are never going to worry us here in the UK, are they? 🙂 Although personally, I do prefer the second cover option which appears on the Goodreads listing …
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31051559-the-summer-that-melted-everything
I am wondering if Sal really is the devil, or if he is in fact simply a misplaced and abandoned child, who has fallen on such hard times and been through so much trauma, that he truly believes he is the devil, or has been convinced that he is by someone who might have mistreated him in the past.
People who have reviewed the book have, on the whole, been very good at avoiding spoilers, so it is all going to come down to my own interpretation, when I read ‘Melted’ for myself.
Thanks for your interest in the book, I hope that you might be intrigued enough to join me in reading it 🙂