Welcome to the Blog Tour for Sunflowers in Paris by Ashley Rescot, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Sunflowers in Paris
Series: The Strings of Sisterhood #2
Author: Ashley Rescot
Publisher: Rescot Creative
Release Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Clean Contemporary Split-time Romance

After a career-altering injury, violist Adrienne Pearson digs deep into her French roots. As the second of five sisters, she seeks individuality. But when several of her family members and friends decide to join her on a French excursion, she must navigate old and new relationships while finding her place in a foreign land. Will she rediscover her voice in the home of her ancestors?

Jean-David Béranger, a brooding, reclusive French journalist, finds his life upturned when his eccentric godmother invites an entourage of American students to live with them while studying music at the local conservatoire. Can Adrienne, a beautiful American sunflower girl, dismantle the fortress surrounding his heart and convince him to turn toward the light?

Sunflowers in Paris takes the reader on a journey through the Loire Valley, Versailles, and Paris, the City of Light, weaving elements of historical and contemporary French life with a centuries-old cold case about a real, 18th-century composer.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub

More in This Series

******************************************

About the Author

Ashley Rescot is a professional violinist, educator, writer, and Fulbright Scholar. An aficionado of music, pedagogy, family, faith, and language, she writes about her life as a musician. With degrees in both violin performance and French literature, she hopes her stories will inspire the next generation of musicians, encourage music professionals, and educate others about the exciting world of music.

Connect with Ashley by visiting rescotcreative.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.

******************************************

My Impressions

“Adrienne had always played viola as though it expressed her very soul, her voice. Until the injury took it away from her. The ache and pain had never gone away. Now she, like the doll ballerinas, felt trapped in a world where she could go through the motions, but she’d lost her voice. Would she ever find it again?”

Sunflowers in Paris is a contemporary dual-timeline by Ashley Rescot. A new-to-me author, I picked up the book because I love seeing how authors fit together characters from two different centuries. I also loved the idea of much of the narrative taking place in France. I loved the virtual tour of different locales and the history that went with each. I also enjoyed the extra French phrases, but in some cases, wondered if non-French students would miss out. There is a glossary at the back of the book, but I never go to the back of the book before my reading takes me there, afraid to spoil the ending. Who doesn’t remember seeing pictures of Notre Dame de Paris burning in 2019? I was glad to see this included and the resolution.

The story itself held me captivated as former viola player, Adrienne Leclaire and some of her sisters find themselves traveling to France to study abroad. They are hosted by their grandmother’s( GiGi) sister, CiCi. I enjoyed seeing the love and camaraderie of the sisters. This contrasts to the fraternal relationships we see in the 300 year-old journal that Jean-David, CiCi’s godson, finds in her ancient home. So many relationships in this story are fraught with peril or, in some cases, rejected as characters strive to stay in their comfort zone. Can Jean-David find and accept the family offered him?

Adrienne is so very empty after her accident that leaves her unable to play her beloved viola. While several of sisters are musical or dancers, Adrienne has had to change her study focus to music history instead of performing. She feels left out. Will the two hearts that feel alone find strength and comfort in each other and ultimately God?

I loved the mystery of Pierre’s family from the past. To make it more tantalizing, Rescot feeds us short snippets from Pierre’s lifetime journal, bit by bit.

I received a copy of the book from JustRead Tours. I also bought my own copy. No positive review is required, and all opinions are my own.

My fave secondary character has hot yo be CiCi. At 80, she is doing things many 20-year-olds would not! The strength of character, warmth, generosity, and care for those around her, wow. She would be a woman to meet.

Notable Quotables:

“See, even amidst the darkness, light shines through…I do know who holds the future. God never leaves us truly alone.”- Adrienne

“So, why did you come?” “For Cici.” She shrugged. “That’s what we do for family. Why are you here?” He smiled. “The same reason.” He extended his arm to her. “For Cici.” – to be discovered

“All he’d ever wanted was to have his family back. But had God really sent Cici, and even the Americans, to be his family?“ (Jean-David)

“Reading about people is my passion, so reading people is my superpower.” – Louisa

“Tonight, God had brought them to each other at this ancient church, tested by fire, aging, and destruction. And if he had helped Notre Dame rise from the ashes, God would also help them do so as well.” – to be discovered

“I don’t like change. I prefer things to stay how they were, like the Medieval castles.” “You mean the fortresses?” She frowned. “Guarded and walled off.” – Jean-David, Adrienne

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! I will be picking up the first book in the series, as well as future books about these sisters.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive French chocolates and a copy of A Change in Tune and Sunflowers in Paris!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight June 1, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on June 8, 2026. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

******************************************

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

About the Book

Book: What I Promise You

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Fiction / Romance / Historical Fiction

Release Date: February 1, 2024

A Family’s History Is Lost to the Ravages of WWII in Southwest France

1942
Noémie Treves, a young, pregnant Jewish woman, had her entire world shattered when she is arrested and taken to the Camp de Rivesaltes transit camp in Southwest France. No sooner does she arrive, though, than she assists in helping two young girls scheduled for transport escape to a nearby maternity hospital. The matron there befriends her and changes her name to help hide her. But nothing goes according to plan, and Hannah finds herself doing the unimaginable to save one precious life.

2022
Caitlyn Laurant is haunted by recent events in her life and hopes becoming a nurse on the mission field will help her forget. While in training, she and her friends travel to France where her grandfather was born. What should have been an easy search for his birthplace turns into anything but and reveals secrets that no one alive has ever heard.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Liz Tolsma is the author of several WWII novels, romantic suspense novels, prairie romance novellas, and an Amish romance. She is a popular speaker and an editor and resides next to a Wisconsin farm field with her husband and their youngest daughter. Her son is a US Marine, and her oldest daughter is a college student. Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping.

More from Liz

The Story behind the Cover of What I Promise You

In the late summer, I got the preliminary cover for What I Promise You. While Barbour Publishing always does a great job with their covers, and the one they sent was very nice, I wasn’t crazy about it because it didn’t tell the story at all. The mansion that plays such a big part in the novel was nowhere to be seen. Barbour is fantastic when it comes to working with me to get great covers, so I asked if we could include the real mansion that the story is based on. Turns out that they were having trouble getting copyright permission to use any image they could find of the maternity home.

That was disappointing. But I got brave and let them know that I took a picture of it when I was in France last year, and they could use it, but I’m not a very good photographer and I only used my iPhone. I attached the photo to the email and didn’t hear anything for a while.

Then in October, I wanted to include a preorder link to the book on social media or something and went to Amazon to grab it. And there was the cover. I went back and forth between the cover and my picture, and sure enough, it was the picture of the maternity home I had sent them! So I not only wrote What I Promise You, but some of my photography is on the front. I never thought that would happen. Am I in the wrong profession?? Just kidding!

My Impressions

“You can’t live your life looking over your shoulder. Keep your eyes focused on what’s in front of you.”

As I sat down to read yet another World War II novel, this one What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma, I had to wonder why. Why are so many novels being written about WWII? How is this one different than others I’ve read?

The first question might be self-explanatory as we as a nation are at a point where we have very few survivors of WWII still alive, and perhaps we are trying to grasp pieces of history before they’re gone forever. Certainly, that’s one promise we want to make our ancestors- that we will never forget the atrocities that went on in Europe, man’s inhumane treatment of his fellow man, especially during that time.

Tolsma’s novel stands out because it deals largely with the treatment and rescue and raids of women and children. To think that a few people, like Nurse Reiter, Eleanor, Aime, and Helene could affect so many! While the characters are fictional, several were loosely based on real, live, brave people.

Another way Tolsma’s novel stands out is the fact that it is not a dual timeline, but a triple timeline! We are with Noemie in 1942 Perpignan, France, in third person POV; with an unidentified narrator in Elne, France, in 1955, written in first person POV; and Barcelona, Spain and southern France with Caitlyn in 2022, written again in third person POV. Tolsma exhibits a great deal of skill to have separated all those story threads beforehand, then to slowly piece and wind them, bit by bit, back together again! I loved how not only is What I Promise You historical and romantic, but now another layer has been added- that of mystery.

The depth of this story! The emotions each time period evokes! My heart is raw! When will Helene stop trying to give more than she can, in order to atone for her perceived past sin? When will Caitlyn decide whether she is following God or her plans from her childhood? Who will God place in these young women’s paths who will be a light in their darkest times?

I personally loved all the French phrases and felt it added an authenticity to the book. A glossary is provided at the front.

I received a copy of the book from the author through Celebrate Lit via Netgalley. I also bought my own ecopy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“To give your offspring the best chance they have at life is the greatest gift you can give them.”

“What is right is not always easy.”

“There’s always the choice to do right or wrong.”

“I can’t live my life in fear of what might be. If I do, I’ll miss out on what is.”