Around the Fire Book & Author Blog with today's guest, Karina Bartow.

Welcome back! I'm excited you joined me. This month, I had the pleasure of joining other New Jersey Romance Writers at Barnes & Noble in Ledgewood, NJ. The staff were amazing and made us feel at home. They are pros at setting up and breaking down an area. What a joy is was to see so many people coming through the door. Brick and mortar bookstores need to hang out signs declaring "We're Back, Baby." 
According to www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/launch-pad/modern-bookstore-revival there is a resurgence of shops growing an emerging. Even indie publishing is finally getting the respect from retail stores that it deserves. So break out and search for stores in your area. Look and see the vast beauty of covers. Pick up and feel the pleasure of flipping pages. Smell the wondrous scents of paper. Okay, I've waxed poetic enough. Let's get to today's guest, who is also a member of the Wild Rose Press garden of authors. Karina is sharing her newest release and a bit about her journey to becoming an author.

 Welcome Karina. Tell us how you got here.
 
​From a young age, I wanted to become an author, but since I can only type with one hand, I didn’t know if I could meet such a goal. Like every aspiring author, my professional pursuits required the same resilience my physical ones did, but it too paid off. My debut novel, Husband in Hiding, was accepted for publication in 2015. Since then, five more of my novels have been published, including Undercover Babymoon, set to be released by The Wild Rose Press later in 2024. 
Want to know more?
Head over to karinabartow.com/my-story/ for an inspiring story of determination and perseverance. ​

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Undeveloped Memories
by 
Karina Bartow
Unseen loves can be the deepest
Women Slueths
Released September 10, 2025
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We assume we know everything there is to know about those who raised us…until we discover that we don’t!
Lorelei Carmichael returns home to check up on her aging uncle, but another investigation awaits her. An undeveloped roll of film, abandoned by her photographer uncle, beckons her attention. Also a photographer, she develops the images and discovers an Alaskan journey he never disclosed, alongside a woman and child.
When an opportunity provides her the chance to peek into the past, she retraces his footsteps through the Alaskan countryside. Will she figure out the whole picture of this unfinished love story? And might the trail of breadcrumbs lead her to capture a love of her own?  
 
Grab your copy today!
https://wildrosepress.com/product/undeveloped-memories/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF5FRS3N/
https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781509262908
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undeveloped-memories-karina-bartow/1147667550?ean=9781509262908  

What others are saying
Primarily, this is a story about family, and about the sacrifices we may or may not be willing to make for family. Another theme is that of understanding. Lorelei is on a voyage of discovery, both for herself and her uncle. I really enjoyed this aspect of the story as it opens up some really interesting questions, chiefly, how much of someone’s past we feel we should be privy to, as well as understanding the motivations a loved one might have for keeping something concealed. On top of that, there is the ethical dilemma of delving into someone’s past without their consent.
The Alaskan earthquake served as a sobering backdrop to the story, linking the past to the present. These passages documenting the pain, heartache and trauma associated with living through a natural disaster, were sensitively discussed, and cleverly interwoven with Lorelei’s story so that it mirrored her own feelings of pain, heartache and trauma. This was the first time that I had heard of the Alaskan earthquake, and the story did inspire me to read up on it. So much research must have gone into the writing of this book, yet the story never feels heavy under the weight of descriptions. Instead, scenes come to life, making them easy to imagine.
The story, which was beautifully written, unraveled in a really interesting way. All the characters were engaging, and the story kept me hooked from beginning to end, so much so that I read it in one sitting!
The connection between Lorelei and Uncle Reed was endearing and poignant. Lorelei really appreciated all that her uncle had given up to raise her and her brother, even if she never truly grasped all that entailed until later life. I loved the interactions between Lorelei and Harley. The mix of sibling annoyance and affection was so accurate and genuine and had me smiling.
If you enjoy gentle, romantic mysteries set in a beautiful location, with the legacy of a poignant historical event woven through it, with characters you can really get behind, I can’t recommend Undeveloped Memories highly enough.
~Reviewer Sammi Cox 

More about the author.
Karina Bartow grew up and still lives in Northern Ohio. Though born with Cerebral Palsy, she’s never allowed her disability to define her. Rather, she’s used her experiences to breathe life into characters who have physical limitations, but like her, are determined not to let them stand in the way of the life they want. Her debut novel, "Husband in Hiding," came out in 2015, followed by "Forgetting My Way Back to You," in 2018 and "Brother of Interest" in 2022. She may only be able to type with one hand, but she writes with her whole heart!

https://karinabartow.com/​
https://www.facebook.com/karinabartowauthor
https://www.instagram.com/karina.bartow/
https://x.com/KarinaBartow
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15045283.Karina_Bartow

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