Cold Rock River

Welcome to J.L. Miles Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour.

Adie Jenkins begins to go into labor with her daughter. Willa Mae Satterfield is waiting at Adie's cabin and helps with the birth. As the labor progress it becomes more difficult. Adie asks about the notebook that Willa Mae carries. Willa Mae lends it to her to read. As Adie reads she discover a diary of a seventeen-year -old slave girl, Tempe Jordon. When life becomes overwhelming, she turns to the diary and reads about the life of Tempe.

Tempe writes about how her children were sold to the speculator man. She becomes determine to find her lost children. After "the freedom" comes Tempe searches for her children. She meets and marry another freed slave, Tom Barber. They have one daughter, Heart. But the diary raises more questions for Adie.

Willa Mae and Adie become close after Adie's daughter birth. Adie confides to Willa Mae about how her baby sister, Annie, survived choking on a jelly bean only to drown in Cold Rock River a few months later. Willa Mae tells her that her two children, Georgia and Calvin drowned in the same river. But she will not explain how or why it happened.



I loved this story about Adie Jenkins. I found Adie to be a wonderful character. She is a strong woman. Her life does not go as plan, but she perseveres. She becomes pregnant and marries her boyfriend, Buck. Nether she or Buck are ready to face the responsibility of marriage and parenthood. Buck gets a job at the local store and begins a "friendship" with the daughter of the store owner. Adie has to focus and try to keep her little family together.

J.L. Miles writing style is relaxed, which makes for easy reading. I found her characters easy to relate to. Miles was able to pull me in from the very beginning. She uses a foreshadowing technique that kept me reading. For example statements like "Basically, that's a good description of how events that led to my sorrow got started." I am thinking what! So I could not stop there; I had to keep reading to see what happens next. I did not put the book down until I finished it.

The references to canning and pies made me think of my grandma and all the canning and cooking she did. All I can say is country folk do know how to cook. There are recipes at the end of the book for those inclined to try them.

When you read Cold Rock River by J.L. Miles you will read Adie's story and Tempe's story. As you read the book these two stories merge to become one story.

I like this book so much that I will try to find J.L. Miles first book, Roseflower Creek.


About the Author:

Jackie Lee Miles, a resident of Georgia since 1975, hails from Wisconsin via South Dakota. She considers herself “a northern girl with a southern heart”. Her paternal grandfather was christened Grant Lee by her great-grandmother in honor of the many fallen soldiers on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. Ms. Miles is a former D.I.A.L. Systems Engineer for Baker/Audio Telecom, one of the premier forerunners of voice mail. In addition to systems application, she provided voice tracks for several major companies, including Delta Airlines and Frito-Lay Corporation.