Stork Bite – Lone Star Lit

About the Book:

Title: Stork Bite
Author: L.K. Simonds
Genre: Historical, Southern, Fiction
Published: November 30th, 2020
Page Count: 359
Synopsis: “Everything has to be reconciled eventually.”

Caddo Parish, 1913. On an October morning, a Klansman confronts seventeen-year-old David Walker at a hidden oxbow lake where he has gone to hunt. David accidentally kills the man and hides the crime. His determination to protect his family from reprisal drives him far from home and into manhood.

Shreveport, 1927. Cargie (rhymes with Margie) Barre and Mae Compton are two vastly different young women, but both are defying convention to reach for their dreams. The men in Cargie’s and Mae’s lives help and hinder them in more ways than one. After years in hiding, David Walker finally resurfaces, and we discover the past is never as far from the present as it seems.

PRAISE FOR STORK BITE:

“Simonds is a wonderfully talented author and evokes the South in astonishing detail in Stork Bite, making us feel we’re sitting in on a long, sumptuous, serial film production. But don’t think it’s mere eye candy–like the best period dramas, there’s plenty of social commentary here. Highly recommended!”

–Linore Rose Burkard, author of Regency Romance and Contemporary Suspense

CLICK TO PURCHASE!

│ Amazon│ IndieBound │

│ Bookshop.org│ Barnes and Noble│

---

---

My Thoughts

Stork Bite by L.K. Simonds was one of the most deeply layered books I have ever had the privilege of reading before, and it emphasized how the small choices we make in life can have huge ripple effects that last generations.

This book is divided into two separate, yet connected stories. In the first “book” L.K. Simonds immediately immerses you into deep south life Louisiana. With vivid descriptions of local wildlife, scenery, and murder (really vivid). It was a great hook, and I could not put it down to see what happened next. L.K. Simonds did a great job making me feel like I was right there with David exploring all the options available to me. The people David meets on his journey were interesting and showed a real glimpse of life at that time, and the hardships that many people went through. I LOVED how David emphasized the need for education as being a founding block for a better life, and his selfless actions were remarkable. This “book” was my favorite as it really engaged me, and I enjoyed the ebb and flow of the author’s voice.

The second “book” introduces a completely new cast of characters, and as you will find out when you read the book, all the characters are interconnected in a remarkable way that is not obvious upon first reading the second “book”.  While David seems to disappear from the story altogether, we meet Cargie and Mae two women from very different walks of life and who make very different life choices. I was fascinated by L.K. Simonds look into the 1920-1930s era of mobs, bootlegging, and the choices of people. It made for an interesting storyline. What really helped make this story interesting for me was not just the story itself, but the way L.K. Simonds rounded out the seemingly not connected stories into one overarching story.

Overall, I think that L.K. Simonds did a great job layering her characters, giving a good mystery that left you scratching your head for a while, and showing how one man’s choice can affect a multitude of people. One thing I wish was done differently, would have been the first book characters remaining as background characters in the second “book” so that I was not completely at a loss on how the two stories fit together until the last 50 or so pages. But Stork Bite did have a good conclusion that wrapped everything up nicely and gave me the pieces I needed to feel like David’s story ended. I give it 4 out of 5 stars for the accurate historical details, the stretched-out mystery, and for being able to layer so many characters and have the story come out richer because of it.

*I will advise that this story does include some mild swearing
**I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.

---

L. K. Simonds is a Fort Worth local whose debut novel, All In, was published in 2019.
She has worked as a waitress, KFC hostess, telephone marketer, assembly line worker, nanny, hospital lab technician, and air traffic controller. She’s an instrument-rated pilot and an alumna of Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas.

                                                                                                                                                                      

◆ WEBSITE ◆ FACEBOOK ◆ TWITTER ◆

◆ AMAZON ◆ GOODREADS ◆

◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ BOOKBUB ◆

---

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

ONE WINNER

(US only):

Signed Paperbacks of ALL IN and STORK BITE

Plus $50 Visa Gift Card.

Giveaway ends Midnight, CST, February 5, 2021

Click Here to Enter The Giveaway!

CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE

FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY,

or visit the blogs directly:

1/26/21	Review	That’s What She’s Reading
1/26/21	Review	The Adventures of a Travelers Wife
1/27/21	Review	StoreyBook Reviews
1/28/21	Review	The Page Unbound
1/28/21	Review	KayBee’s Book Shelf
1/29/21	Review	Momma on the Rocks
1/29/21	BONUS Promo	Hall Ways Blog
1/30/21	Review	Rainy Days with Amanda
1/31/21	Review	Tangled in Text
2/1/21	Review	Librariel Book Adventures
2/1/21	Review	Jennifer Silverwood
2/2/21	Review	The Clueless Gent
2/2/21	BONUS Promo	All the Ups and Downs
2/3/21	Review	Book Bustle
2/3/21	Review	Forgotten Winds
2/4/21	Review	It’s Not All Gravy
2/4/21	Review	Reading by Moonlight

blog tour services provided by