Events:

Oct. 7, 2014 – THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE: A Tale of Abelard and Heloise debuts!

Oct. 7, 2014 – Spokane release party for THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE, 5-9 p.m., Sante Charcuterie and Restaurant’s Butcher Bar (next to Auntie’s Books), 404 W. Main Ave., 509-315-4613. Music, readings from the book, medieval costumes, giveaways, free champagne for book buyers, meet the author, and more! Free and open to the public.

Oct. 19, 2014 – Sherry signs books at the “Take Back Your Life” Expo observing Violence Against Women Day, 11 am.-5 p.m. in Spokane’s Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln St., Spokane.

Oct. 21, 2014 – Auntie’s Annual Fandango, Auntie’s Books, 6:30-8 p.m., 402 W. Main Ave., 509-838-0206. Sherry and other authors present “How to Use My Books in Your Book Group.” Free and open to the public.

Nov. 7, 2014 – Reading and book signing, THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE, Fact and Fiction Bookstore, 5:30 p.m., 220 N. Higgins Ave., Missoula, Montana, 406-721-2881. Free and open to the public.

Nov. 21, 2014 – Reading and book signing, THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE, Auntie’s Books, 402 W. Main Ave., 509-838-0206. Free and open to the public.

Reviews: THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE

Library Journal

The passionate story of star-crossed lovers Heloise and Abelard is well known, but Jones (The Jewel of the Medina; Four Sisters, All Queens) makes the classic tragic tale all too human in her new novel, which deftly explores the complexity of love between two brilliant and strong-willed people caught up in the pursuit of fame and independence as well as passion. Readers will recognize the familiar conflicts between what constitutes love and sacrifice for a man and what it means to a woman, and they will be struck anew by the dichotomy of mutual passion that both draws men and women together and tears them apart. All the while, in the background courtiers, scholars, canons, and bishops jockey for power, prestige, and a place in history, ready to destroy anyone who gets in their way.
Verdict A colorful, compelling tale that will appeal to any reader, though one wishes the unique character of the brilliant Heloise had been more fleshed out before the introduction of the spellbinding Abelard.—Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA

Kirkus Reviews

Heloise d’Argenteuil is a brilliant scholar, and Pierre Abelard is a philosopher whose work titillates all of Paris. When Abelard is hired to tutor Heloise, it’s the beginning of an all-consuming and forbidden love affair that could cost them everything.

So begins an epic romance based on the original letters between the famous 12th-century lovers. While their love flares and burns like a fabulous Roman candle, they are pitted against the strict rules of Parisian society, a wrathful uncle and their own teeming ambitions. They cling together in a world that insists on tearing them apart, yet even as their desire for each other continues unabated, the cost of being together takes its toll, with drastic consequences for both of them. Jones (Four Sisters, All Queens, 2012, etc.) weaves history and passion in a tale full of emotional heft that questions what it means to truly love someone. At times her writing is overly lush, and she focuses on painting a maelstrom of emotions rather than building up the events that created those emotions. Abelard and Heloise are rushed into a courtship before the reader has a firm understanding of who they are, yet Jones’ characterization is complex and subtle. In the way of all lovers who love without knowing if they have a future together, Abelard’s and Heloise’s motivations keep changing, leaving the reader wondering what will happen next.

Readers will push to the end determined to find out if there never was a tale of more woe than that of Heloise and her Abelard, or if, for once, true love is able to triumph over everything that would see it destroyed.

Reviews: FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS

HNR Review

Read more about FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS in the Feb 2012 issue of Historical Novels Review (click on cover for the article about the real women behind ‘Four Sisters, All Queens.’)

RT Book Review gives its highest rating — four stars out of a possible four — to FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS.

Library Journal gives FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS a rave review, calling it “entertaining,” “well written,” and “fascinating”

Diary of a Book Addict loves WHITE HEART, saying, “Author Sherry Jones offers readers a glimpse into the past that’s unlike just about any other historical novel out there.”

Layered Pages calls WHITE HEART “a wonderful and entertaining story! A must read!” http://layeredpages.blogspot.com/2012/04/white-heart-by-sherry-jones.html